Commentary: A pandemic trip to Europe was going great — until the return to O'Hare airport

The Department of Homeland Security official scowled at the little clutch of weary passengers, recently disgorged into Terminal 5 of Chicago's O'Hare International Airport from Dublin on a hot August Saturday afternoon.

"Aer Lingus passengers," the man barked. "Everyone up against the wall."

I thought I was hearing things. Anger welling, I turned to my son.

"You remember all that Aer Lingus did to keep us safe?" I said, "the socially distant boarding, the careful distancing on the plane, the space all around us, our masks, the flight attendants with the wipes? This renders all of that moot."

But what could we do but comply? Up against the wall we went, like cattle in a stockyards pen. "Got to write about this," I fumed.

My annoyance had begun