Come Fly With Me

I love airports.

Now, don't get me wrong...

Any seasoned tourist can attest to the tribulations of airline travel. The lines, crappy food (usually), heavy post-9/11 security, scrambling to catch a connecting flight after a delayed one (contrasted with hours of sitting and waiting), turbulence, rude passengers, etc. The list goes on.

I'm a big fan, however, of finding diamonds in the rough, and I don't just love airports because I used to dream about becoming a pilot. No, I'm talking about three of my other favourite pastimes: writing, chatting and people watching.



There is a thrum and pulse to an airport, and at any given time you can find a cross-section of cultures. Airports have also become (at least for North Americans) the predominant means of international travel (this is both good and bad; while they have helped make the world very small, they could also assist in our doom).



Ok, I'll stop digressing. My first point is that I've always seen long bouts of waiting as an opportunity to get writing done. A good deal of the war letters from Crystal Promise were written at SeaTac on my way to visit my friend AJ.

It's also a great way to meet people. Sure, there are plenty of grumpy don't-even-look-at-me-I-just-got-strip-searched individuals out there, but I've met some interesting people at airport bars and on flights, enriching what would otherwise have been an hour or two of silence.

Ok, not everyone's an extrovert. For those of you of the opposite persuasion, there's people watching.



I'm sure there are a plethora of reasons why we people-watch. I like to make up stories about people's lives (this may not come as a surprise to most of you). I don't mean made-up names and outlandish stories of their adventures kind of thing...I mean trying to guess what their life is actually like. Invasive, or inventive? YOU, THE READERS DECIDE.

So take it from a silver-lining kind of guy. Airports can be frustrating...but there are ways to make the best of them.

--James