Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Airport Fun
What I'm about to post is most of what I just typed in an email to Sax. I realized afterwards that it would make a good post, so I'm stealing from myself essentially.
I had some fun getting out of the Charlotte airport this morning, so I thought I'd share.
We left for the airport around 6:30 this morning (ouch), because my mother was concerned about hitting traffic outside of Charlotte. For once, my mom was 1) not late for something and 2) interested in getting me to the airport at a reasonable time. She has a long history of cutting it very close every time I fly somewhere. I think that every trip I made to visit my father involved us running breathlessly down the terminal. But this time I made it there a little over an hour before my flight. Yay mom.
Unfortunately, her efforts were less appreciated once I was informed that my flight crew was delayed due to a late arrival last night. I took my sweet time getting through security, going to the bathroom and then going in search of an ATM. I settled down at a food court on the other side of the airport and was delighted to find that their wireless Internet was free-of-charge. I checked my email and started chatting with Meka (who was also killing time at her all-day AP training). I tried to log into myspace and was denied access to "adult/mature content." Hmm. Foiled again.
I glanced around me and chuckled when I saw a string of white rocking chairs lined up alongside the moving sidewalk (big fan of those btw). People were contentedly rocking away as they sipped their lattes and read their papers. Since when did airports become a place for rocking chairs? I couldn't help but be amused by this phenomenon, especially since it was juxtaposing two societal inclinations - 1) our desire to soothe ourselves by rocking, reminding us perhaps subconsciously of when our mothers may have done the same 2) our desire to use moving conveyor belts to move us faster than our legs can manage. While typing this I remembered that I saw rocking chairs in the Greensboro airport as well, but these were sitting atop a fake porch. Even better. Do you think perhaps the rocking chairs are connected to High Point, NC's furniture making? I digress.
After 20 minutes of chitchat, I decided that I should start making my way back to my gate. But I snapped a picture of the rocking chairs first. I checked my flight time again and saw that it was still delayed. The screen didn't have an estimated departure time, just the message "delayed." I figured I'd have time to hit the bathroom again and stop by a newsstand for a drink and a magazine. I moseyed towards the gate first to stop at the bathroom. I looked left and saw none other than one of our more notorious students from the summer program sitting there with his guitar in hand. Interesting. I smirked and continued on towards the bathroom. While inside, I heard the following announcement: "Last call for United flight 1752 to Washington, Dulles." Crap. Somehow I had missed all the other calls. I hurried out, passing ___ along the way. I said, "Hi ___" and kept walking. He smiled yet seemed confused...unable to place me I'm sure. I was saddened by the fact that I would not have the time to stop and give him a hard time.
Despite all the silliness I somehow managed to buckle myself into my seat. I was concerned that my flight delay was going to leave me stranded in D.C., but I hadn't thought that making it out of Charlotte was going to be an issue. I settled in for my 55-minute flight, listening to my iPod (I downloaded some Police songs).
The flight out of D.C. was less eventful. I had some trouble getting from the Boston airport back to my apartment due to oppressive heat and trains that didn't come, but I eventually found my way. I spent some time at FP catching up with my friend Jen and then later coffee guy. This evening I made it out for dinner and ice cream with CK, which was quite fun and somewhat silly as well (due to problems with parking, air conditioning, forgotten purses, bathrooms etc).
I picked the hottest day of the summer to come back to Boston, and tomorrow is supposed to be even hotter. Yum.
Time for bed; I am one exhausted B.
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