Boy, 9, forgotten at Chicago airport

[Sharlee]

Unattended child en route to Ottawa left in waiting room for eight hours

A nine-year-old boy was forgotten in a Chicago airport waiting room Saturday for nearly eight hours after an airline representative failed to put him on a connecting flight, the Ottawa Citizen reported.

Julien Reid was headed home to Ottawa on a United flight after visiting his dad in San Francisco, a trip he makes about six times a year.

He left San Francisco at 6 a.m. and arrived at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport at 11 a.m. He was supposed to catch a connecting flight from Chicago to Ottawa at 1:50 p.m., which would have put him in Ottawa at about 4:45 p.m.

His mother, Genevieve Harte, checked online and saw that Julien's flight was delayed until 5:35 p.m. When she arrived at the airport to pick him up, she noticed other passengers had disembarked but that her son was nowhere to be found.

Then she got a call from Julien, using his own pre-paid cell phone.

He said he was still at the Chicago airport in a "tiny, little room cramped with kids," where they played the same video on a loop all day, the Ottawa Citizen reported. The only food he'd been given was McDonald's, but Julian is a vegetarian. He said the other children were yelled at to "stop being kids."

Harte, 36, asked Julien to put her on the phone with the United attendant who was watching the children. That's when the attendant let it slip that no one had come to fetch Julien to put him on his connecting flight, she told the Ottawa Citizen.

What kind of a moronic parent sends a 9 year old alone across the country?

[NSgirl]

I don't think I could send a 9 year old alone,personally,I would be way too nervous. However I can not judge this woman. If the father lives in another place far away,It would get pretty expensive paying for a chaperone for a return trip every 2 months [6 times per year]
I am sure the airlines are usually pretty good at offering this service and a mistake was made.
A huge inconvenience,it would have been but it sounded like he was relatively safe. A bit hungry perhaps but busy playing games.she found out where he was so it was not like he was unaccounted for.
Hopefully they offer her a refund and perhaps a free flight somewhere.

[Sharlee]

Just because the parents chose to live that far apart doesn't mean the child should have to travel back and forth alone?  A responsible parent would pay for a chaperone.  A 9 year old is far to young to travel on his own regardless of what the rules of the airline are.  I am so sick of parents who won't take responsibility for their own kids.

[wednesday]

dont they have vegan options at mcdonalds?

[Green Hornet]

dont they have vegan options at mcdonalds?

Yes they do have vegetarian option at the McDonald's at O'Hare International Airport.
This story reminds me of the movie "Home Alone" which happened at took place around Chicago and surrounding suburbs.