The Airport

Airports always make me reflective. I think it's the internationalness of the place, even dinky little airports in the middle of nowhere. They still represent the launching pad into the wild blue yonder and endless possibilities of destinations. My friends all think I'm addicted and can't stay away for more than 3 months. They're probably right. They just make me smile.

Take paging systems, for example. This past Sunday, a lady's voice came on, cleared her throat, and then said, "Paging Gimpy, paging ... Gimpy. Please meet your party at the baggage claim." Couldn't you just hear his family giggling like crazy?

And then there are the frazzled parents traveling with little kids. I got to watch Dad sitting there with a coffee cup in one hand (indispensable for Generation Y), one hand on the carry-on least he leave it "unattended" for even a minute, and his I'm guessing 15-month old daughter who didn't crawl but scooted on her butt and kept getting farther and farther away. You could see his eyes get bigger with every inch she scuffled.

I love overhearing or even taking part in conversations of where people are headed and why. Some for business, some for family, some for vacations to the Bahamas, others for grandparents' funerals, some for the trip of a lifetime to the Grand Canyon, others to be with family on Christmas.

I love how all generations come together at airports. In my one seat, I can be surrounded by people born in every decade from 1930 to 2000.

I love it when kids of different nationalities, languages, and ethnicity can ignore all social boundaries and crawl under the seats to play cars with each other, to the slight consternation of their parents on either side of the aisle, not to mention the flight attendants.

I love airports, the great equalizers where people of all backgrounds come together to squish on an airplane for a common purpose, at least for a few hours. Not counting 1st class cabins, everyone else is the same. And I've generally met with helpfulness all around. It's in everyone's best interest to help each other, make room, pass bags, trade seats. It reminds me of the Church at its best: diverse, united in a common goal, purposeful, working together.