Slice of Life Story Challenge March 16 - Airport Observations

Remember the scene from the end of the movie, ‘Love Actually’ where friends and family are reunited at the airport? It’s a great montage moment in the film and captures the importance of reconnecting with loved ones.

This morning I was sitting at Melbourne Airport preparing to fly to Adelaide for a week long poetry residency shared between two schools. Airports are great places for people watching. It is an opportunity to speculate on the comings and goings of other people. There’s a multitude of faces going places. There are beginnings and endings, arrivals and departures all happening in front of you. Just behind me in the check in line is a young family with twin girls. -Toddlers in perpetual motion in a large, wide pram. The father manages the extensive gathering of family luggage. It’s a big operation when a family flies.  The mother manages the ever wriggling twin girls. They squirm and squeal and their mother works hard the entire time to keep them from becoming wild babies. Her attention is totally focused on twin control. The negotiating of their time in the line involves a finely tuned set of manoeuvres. Check in lines can be notoriously slow at times.  I admire these parents and the way they sail through this challenge.


Each of us has a unique story and these stories come together in an airport. Sometimes we are totally alone with our stories. When we travel alone one else knows our special circumstances. It lies behind our social masks. I spent the vast majority of this journey observing others. I fully embrace these opportunities to learn about the human condition. Voyeuristic it may be, but people watching is fun. The writer in me loves it. 

Comments

  1. Dogtrax16 March 2014 at 22:02

    In this montage moment,
    we wait
    for our time before the camera
    pans across the multitudes of faces
    and settles slowly on our own.

    -Kevin
    PS -- some line lifting this morning for poetry.

    ReplyDelete
  2. ABoyden16 March 2014 at 22:42

    "When we travel alone one else knows our special circumstances. It lies behind our social masks. "
    I enjoyed this observation? reflection?

    ReplyDelete
  3. elsie16 March 2014 at 23:45

    People watching is a sport I love to take part in. At times I will create an entire back story for what I've witnessed. A great observation and description, loved the "on twin patrol."

    ReplyDelete
  4. Linda B17 March 2014 at 00:28

    It is fun to watch at the airport, one of the few places where we actually are in a crowd, but sitting still. Love this, Alan: "Her attention is totally focused on twin control." I've traveled with my family with two young daughters, & it is quite a challenge to get all the equipment needed through the gate! Hope your workshops are fun!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Julieanne17 March 2014 at 02:56

    I loved the beginning connection to the movie, the middle reporting of humanity and twin struggle and the end, "Sometimes we are totally alone with our stories. When we travel alone one else knows our special circumstances. It lies behind our social masks." Beautiful post.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous17 March 2014 at 05:37

    People watching at the airport is so much fun! I haven't flown much since my daughter has been born, but I'll be flying with her and my husband soon. I'm sure we'll be quite a sight as we navigate the airport together. ;O

    ReplyDelete

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