Ever been stuck at a US airport?

Sure, when I lived in northern california.

You never experienced a mess at SFO? You are surely kidding.

Not kidding. I've flown out of San Francisco as a passenger more often than many. I've visited over 80 countries over the years.
The only delay I can remember was at Heathrow in London. The airline fed us dinner and breakfast, and paid for our hotel stay for the night.

However, I think you're right about flight delays out of and into SFO because of the fog.

The only time I dealt with a delay was during the Air Traffic Controllers strike. Over 2 hours inside the plane and stuck on the runway.

Once, traveling to Dublin, our plane was diverted to Shannon due to the fog. Had to make the rest of the trip in a taxi.

Another time, the Continental plane I was in broke in Houston.

The company paid for the hotel and all as we only had another plane next day.

The business about getting stuck farely often at SFO (San Francisco) was usually fog related.

Lessee, husband and I were stuck at O'Hare when on our way to WashDC, but they put us up in a hotel for the night. Was stuck in Portland, Oregon for some long hours, but that was ok.
Would have liked to actually get out of the airport into the city, but the timing wasn't right.

Worst was a long flight that started in Los Angeles, but didn't get us to New York in time, so, to get to Italy where we had hotel reservations in Rome, we ran for a plane to Milan and spent vast time in Milano waiting for an Alitalia plane to Rome. By the time we got there we were exhausted. On the other hand, the coffee was great once we stepped off in Italy.

Baltimore-Washington Int'l
Dallas-Fort Worth
Logan (Boston)

I have a bias, traveling is pretty much a joy to me, to ever get to do it.

When my son and I flew to China, we had a long layover in Seoul, Korea, so I asked the staff at the airport if we could take a short trip into town, but they said no. We waited in the airport for about five hours. What a waste.

The Widget Factory sucks much of the joy out of travel.