There are two types of people at the airport: the people who get to the airport three hours early and those who refuse to show up more than an hour before the flight. I am the second breed of traveler. I have never understood the need, nor desire, to arrive at the airport crazy early, to sit around staring at your phone, confined to a small two by one foot chair. These people are the ones that have an excessive amount of Advil, Tylenol, hand sanitizer, Band-Aids, and probably two backup chargers neatly organized into their Ziplock bags. Need snacks? They probably have a variety of travel-sized snacks for every taste. A whole side of humanity throws away precious time of their vacation to sit in an airport for hours on end, scared that their plane might magically leave an hour early?
Some may say I'm a little delusional because I show up to the airport at 7 am for my 8 am flight. What if there is a wreck on the way to the airport? Or what if the security line is backed up? What about the check-in line? Yes, I have thought of all these, but have yall ever thought about the adrenaline that rushes through your body as you speed walk to your gate and can bypass the unnecessary crowding of the gate and standing in the gateway for 5 minutes?
This takes me to my next point. Why do people feel the need to congregate around the boarding zone, blocking the gate when they are group 7? There are six groups in front of you and about 100 seats around. If you are so desperate to speed up the boarding process, please take a seat and let the people who were called board the plane without having to swerve through the mass of people. I would love to point out to these people that we are all going to get to the destination at the same time, so please relax a bit. Now I know this can seem harsh, but the absolute most puzzling thing a human can do is stand in the aisle of the plane the second the plane taxis to the gate. Please, sir, you are in row 35; you have about 150 people in front of you, so there is no need to stand in the aisle for the next thirty minutes while the rest of the plane deplanes. If you are one of these people I categorize as an airport overachiever, please let me know the reasoning behind your decisions. I am genuinely intrigued.
I totally agree with the second point - everyone needs to wait their turn to board and exit the plane. But, getting to the airport an hour before your flight is madness! Too much anxiety for me.
ReplyDeleteThere is so much wrong with airports. One of my least favorite places on Earth! I always turn to my parents and roll my eyes when people stand up right when we land and they try to run off the plane
ReplyDeleteFlying has been an absolute ordeal since 9/11. The security has added a lot of extra time. I'll freely admit that I try to get to the airport way ahead of time because I've been slow and lazy and missed flights before. Boarding, getting on and off the plane...it's all a hell scape. I haven't flown since COVID began, but I bet it's even worse now.
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