Monday, December 12, 2022

MId-Transit

I am sitting in a major urban airport as I write this on Saturday past, mid-transit between Old Home and New Home.

My flight has been delayed midpoint and thus I find myself with an additional 45 minute wait – or two hours overall – until I board to complete the journey. This is not the first time a flight has been delayed for me, although flight delays can feel very different depending on what airport you get delayed in. In some airports – the smaller, older ones – a wait on a travel can feel packed in among everyone else awaiting transit elsewhere, humanity’s seething mass impatient, loud, and packed in

This time though, I am lucky. It is a large airport and there are a handful of flights – maybe 12 – leaving between now and the end of the day. I can tuck myself away near the gate I am to depart from and wait, greedily sucking power from the provided outlets – for some reason I have an unreasonable fear of running out of power, and insist on having my phone highly charged at all times.

Airports, no matter where they are in the US, are largely the same: stores selling highly priced merchandise, food stores – some recognized chains, some local – selling food at higher than average prices, and the ubiquitous airport bar, with sportsball games blaring and travelers drinking to take their mind off the travel or off the wait to travel. In some ways it is less about travel and more about the American shopping experience in microcosm.

I have become shockingly familiar with many many of these airports in a five state circle on the route to Old Home and then back over the 2.5 years that I have been traveling once a month. I laugh at that statement – there was a time, many years ago, when traveling once a month for work to a foreign destination was a burden. Now, I do it monthly and do not think of it much more than an inconvenience that is to be borne.

The darkness fall early in Winter: from the time I exited the plane to the time I walked the length of the airport twice and then found this spot to sit, we went from the fading beams of sunset to the sparkle of lights and planes of the city surrounding the airport. The airport is temperate but not warm and the air is filled with boarding announcements and the public service announcements that seem common everywhere one goes anymore – do not smoke of course, but does anyone really accept packages from someone they do not know? Apparently the airport authorities still consider this a major point of concern, judging by the number of announcements about it.

I am not much of people watcher: that would imply I (on the whole) enjoy spending time with them. Airports are generally reasonable environments for being somewhere with people if one has to be there if for no other reason that everyone is the terminal has a reason to be here. There are stories I see as I sit here and watch, which I am sure that I could ponder about if I had the inclination. 

Here a man slowly meanders in circles, talking to himself in a phone conversation that only makes sense to him as the rest of us only hear the half; there an older couple seems to have some kind of debate about some fact, stopping and gesturing back and forth at one another. People stroll by and stop, checking the travel board – it can only be for departures at this point – and then continue to meander on their way. Occasionally someone stops, looks, and hurries on, late for a boarding.

At best I can only muster the interest to ask why where Crocs or slippers is considered acceptable traveling attire.

In every airport one sees the maintenance staff as they make their rounds, emptying garbage and recyclables and generally cleaning up. I wonder, briefly, what it would be like to work all day at a transit hub like this, surrounded by people that are going around the world while you are likely going to be here tomorrow and tomorrow and the tomorrow after that. Those that travel often – and this is a common thing in a time and place where travel is still relatively inexpensive – take these sorts of things for granted. I can remember a time where a single plane flight a year was a big deal; this year I have made 14 round trips and I almost do not think of it.

I wonder, as I watch the lights reflect off the linoleum floor and the bags and people roll by, what air travel must have been like before it was “democratized”. Was it like the images that one sees in the movies from the 50’s and 60’s? Was it an event like it appears in the movies and the ads of the time, with people dressed up and formally uniformed staff everywhere? I can remember a day where meals were still served and headphones had to be rented and there a single movie to be shown – and that only on international flights. We walked to the gates and saw people off or waited by the gates for their return. Now we take our meals on ourselves or chew our snack mix while having a drink only, we stand outside the main entrance and wait – although even this almost never seems to happen anymore; much more likely we walk out to the front and wait for our pickup. Less time and certainly less parking cost, we tell ourselves.

Like almost everything, we have moved into the modern world, and lost something in the process.

A women walks her dog by. This is one of the more interesting things that has happened in air travel over the last ten years. I like dogs (and the occasional cat I see), and their presence inevitably brightens up my mood. I wonder what they think of this circulating mass of humanity and its accompanying foods and bits they buy and the thundering voices that rumble from above. Do they question any of it, or do they simply take it in stride as a new environment?

The dog at least seems excited by all of it; the rest of us, with the exception of the very young, take it all for granted.

19 comments:

  1. Anonymous2:39 AM

    I read that last week that Mehran Nasseri, the person that inspired that Tom Hank's movie with residing in Charles De Gaulle Airport had passed away. He lived in that airport for 18 years. Can you imagine the number of people he saw and encountered in that time.

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    1. I actually did see that. I cannot imagine - and so many of them transient encounters, undoubtedly.

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  2. I haven't been in an airport for at least a decade, so I am glad there are people like you, TB, who are willing to make thoughtful observations. Sounds like I'm not missing anything.

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    1. Leigh, just another service I offer...

      Truly, there really is nothing there to miss. If I could get away with more direct flights, I would - time in mid transit is (generally) time wasted.

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  3. So many things to comment on but I'll limit myself.

    Just a few weeks back, waiting at an airport though not flying myself, a woman approached me and asked if I would watch her bags and then without waiting for a response strolled away. This presented a couple dilemmas. First, I didn't know which bags were hers but could reasonably assume the ones by themselves. Two, I was getting ready to leave and had no idea how long she planned to be gone. As to your point, I could have stuffed them full of bombs had I wanted too. Finally, she came back after a few minutes and didn't even look in my direction or acknowledge me.

    I took my first flight sometime in the early 80's. It certainly was a much different experience than it is today.

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    1. Ed, I honestly think that the "Can you watch my bag for a minute?" is probably a great deal more prevalent than the authorities like to think - although I have never done it, I can see where I "Can you cover me while I use the restroom?" would be incredibly convenient.

      To your last sentence in the first paragraph - there are two kinds of people in airports: those that are incredibly focused on themselves and them getting to where they need, and those that just need to ride to get where they are going - and will get there. You can always tell the difference.

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  4. Nylon125:29 AM

    Thanks for the description TB, haven't been to an airport in years. TV reports on Thanksgiving travel are just travel reports, weather clear...runways clear....people happy to leave/arrive. Cros and slippers are also seen at the local store along with pajama bottoms.

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    1. Nylon12, you are not missing anything. I wonder if -in some ways - airports have become the sort of "new mall" as malls have disappeared: large groups of people, contained, available to be marketed to.

      "Pajama bottoms". Same in my neck of the woods as well. It is unfortunate.

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  5. I used to jumpseat, back in the day. Sitting in an empty cargo plane, the takeoff seems like a rocket ride. On the Airbus you are facing backwards, and your arms and legs want to point to the tail. On the 727, you are behind the pilot. I always asked for the seat that could see out. The other jumpseat is in a hole. It was very crowded, but I loved every minute of those flights. The one DC10 ride was a bust. I had a cockpit jumpseat all lined up, when a deadhead aircrew showed up and stole it. One night leaving Great Falls, MT, we rotated off the runway, and were instantly in a cloud of snow. I was gobsmacked by the landing lights shining into the snow. It was like we were sliding into diamonds. The colors and the sparkles were a sensory overload. I was in overwhelmed and the only one to see it. It was over in a few seconds. The pilots were doing their checks and never looked up.

    Being one of a hundred in the back is just like being another bean in a can. I always tried to have something worthwhile to do while I was stuck in the terminal. I hate wasting time.

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    1. STxAR - That Montana story sounds like quite an experience - and as you say, to the pilots it was likely nothing out of the ordinary.

      I bring books to read, and try and get up and walk the length of the terminal at least once for longer stays.

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  6. I flew back to be with family when Dad passed away a couple months ago and it had been at least 35 years since I set foot on a plane. A lot has changed, as have some of the travelers. Some looked like they hopped out of bed and went to fly somewhere. There were some people who while waiting the short 30 minutes for their flights were napping on the floor. (yuck) Maybe I'm getting old... it just seems like people have gotten lazy. BUT all I can say is that the service from the airline personnel and airport staff, from check in to in-flight was nothing but exceptional. All were very professional in act and appearance. Even the crews who were taking the flight to another airport were very professional. At least they haven't seem to have changed over time.
    ~hobo

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    1. Hobo - I 99% of the time fly with Southwest and I have never had a flight crew that is less than professional and good at their jobs. But to your point, passengers can not be quite as good at theirs.

      I have spent time on the floor (though not napping). Sometimes it is the room that is available, sometimes it is the only place to find isolation.

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  7. I traveled for a living for 19 years and was on planes at least every 10 days. I got to the place when traveling from airport to home at 10/12 at night seeing the lights in the house and wondering when I could stay home. But you know, food and bills have to be paid. I won't comment on the state of people traveling today. Glad to be out of it the last 12 years.

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    1. That sounds like a brutal schedule GL. I am glad you got out of it as well - even with my infrequency, it is not fantastic.

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  8. You must have shed your "not much of a people watcher" blinders for a while. Interesting observations and descriptions.

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    1. Bob, I can be observant if I put my mind to it. That said, there are people that do it for pure enjoyment (I do not).

      The interesting thing to me is that I could make that exact same observation in any airport I have been in during the last two years.

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  9. TB, just to show what a sheltered life I live... I've not even been inside an airport since the new Indpls airport was built. I had to look it up and see it opened in 2008 - so over 14 years ago! We've each driven people to the airport, and away from the airport, but I'm not sure non-flyers are even allowed inside this one. My only exposure is the drop off and pick up area. And the parking lot where one waits to get the call to come pick the flyer up. Many years ago I had the exiting pleasure of flying once in a small private plane, but have never had the experience of flying in a commercial airliner. Frankly, at this stage in life I don't even desire to fly - only the speed of getting somewhere quickly might entice me someday if it is necessary. I enjoyed your writing about your view from inside. Similar to what I remember from the "old days" when we would see visitors to their gate and watch from the inner windows as their planes taxied and then flew off. It sounds so quaint now. :) Enjoy you time at Old Home! And have a safe trip back to New Home shortly. :)

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    1. To be clear... I did not have "exiting" pleasure of flying in a small private plane. That would be terrifying. I'm sure you understood what I meant to write, but the typo was too rich to ignore. lol

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    2. Becki - Interestingly enough, I was at the Indianapolis Airport this year for business. I had not been there since the early 2000's and it was quite different from what I hazily remember - very large, very nice now. Like most airports, non-ticketed passengers are not allowed inside the terminals.

      Honestly, I prefer driving at this point as well - unfortunately, the time factor is a real thing currently.

      "exiting pleasure of a small plane" - Pun approved!

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