Dateline>City of Angels

The Things You Learn in an Airport

I just returned from a business trip to Las Vegas, which explains the brief hiatus from posting to this blog. Of course, the heat out there was miserable, but not nearly as miserable as the travel itself. I remember a time when flying was fun, especially on Southwest Air, which used to boast friendly flight personnel with a perky sense of humor. But those days are gone. Long gone.

Here are 10 observations I made while wasting way too much time at the airports awaiting my flights…

  1. How incredibly overweight Americans have become.
  2. How loud and inane the average cell phone conversation can be.
  3. That few people actually look where they are walking anymore.
  4. How outdated typical airport design has become, considering modern security needs.
  5. Just how close on your heels other travelers like to stand when invading your personal space in line.
  6. How truly rude other passengers can get once they finally board a plane.
  7. That as rude as those other passengers can get, the airline personnel can still top them.
  8. Given the level of airline disorganization, it’s a modern miracle that so many planes actually get off the ground anywhere close to their scheduled time.
  9. Given the level of airline disorganization, it’s an even greater miracle that so many planes actually get off the ground, period.
  10. That, despite all the advisory signs, and the long lines winding their way through the X-Rays, a disproportionately large number of travelers (especially women — sorry, ladies, it’s true) seem to prefer waiting until the last possible second before hanging up their cell phones and removing their shoes, keys, laptops, liquids, lotions and other sundry items from their persons and bags for screening.

8 Comments/Trackbacks so far...

  1. Frank July 24th, 2007 2:56 pm

    How True! Especially about Americans getting fatter and fatter, is this inevitable when a society is too successful?!?

  2. RumorsDaily July 24th, 2007 4:37 pm

    Hey, I made a video about getting my luggage at the Las Vegas airport a few months ago: http://youtube.com/watch?v=0×6OWXCheWg

  3. RumorsDaily July 24th, 2007 4:38 pm

    Hmm, the last link worked poorly. How about just a straight, non html, version:

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=0×6OWXCheWg

  4. RumorsDaily July 24th, 2007 4:39 pm

    Ok, now I’m cluttering up your webpage, but if you can’t get there through the links, search for this title: “Luggage on the Baggage Carousel in Vegas stays in Vegas.”

  5. Militant Angeleno July 24th, 2007 5:28 pm

    At least it’s so incredibly easy to tell the difference between, say, a German and a German American, or a Japanese and a Japanese American, or a Mexican and a Mexican American, or an African and an African American - the fatter one is always the American!

    Nothing beats this one though: [Link Here]

  6. Administrator July 24th, 2007 7:38 pm

    I don’t know, Militant. I saw a fairly diverse mix, and it seemed there was plenty of obesity to go around no matter what type of hyphenated-American they were. — MI

  7. Militant Angeleno July 26th, 2007 11:30 am

    Uh, that’s exactly what the Militant was trying to say…

  8. Administrator July 26th, 2007 1:00 pm

    Oops. Sorry. Misunderstood you. –MI

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