LIFE IS LIKE AN AIRPORT

Airports are busy places. The infrastructure is complex and interactive. More than just planes taking off and landing, the number of staff to make it all happen is huge. Pearson International Airport with its terminals and surrounding area is an example of a large city airport. The highways mark the route to Terminal 1- the new one with all the design of a major architectural design and Terminal 3- the older one for some domestic flights and international charters. Terminal 2- the round one was demolished a few years ago. When it was built in the 1960s it was innovative for the time.  Watching the signs on Highway 427 to know which terminal has which airline. Private planes arrive where they are told. Parking and remembering where one parked is important entails the drive to the airport. If one misses the right road there are lanes to return to the right terminal. There is even a hotel in the terminal area. There is a departures level and an arrivals level so easy to know which one to be on. Better to drop your passenger then to go in the terminal for a departure.  More stores and food outlets are behind security so there is little to do if staying with a loved one or friend. Waiting on comfortable chairs with space and windows make the adventure durable. A closed in ramp on the gate for boarding the plane to your destination so one does not bear the elements. Life is convenient as within the 24 hours of the flight the boarding pass can be printed on a home computer. The airport is modern but the people taking flights are the same. Anxiety does prevail with some passengers. Fear of flying is known to be part of many passengers' psyche. Travel can be for pleasure, business or a family emergency. The economy class has rammed seats and a cost for food. Business or the old First Class comes with some perks. For some reason, I love the airport atmosphere. Perhaps the days I spent in my youth travelling on an Air Canada pass, it was important to learn to wait to determine if there was an available seat on the plane. Exploring whichever airport where the wait occurred gave a different perspective of the whole experience. Watching and observing people became a favourite pastime even as a young person. There is a rhythm to the whole event. People line up to confirm their seat at the ticket desk and place their luggage hoping to see it again. Waiting at the gate, the airline personnel checks boarding passes and allows one to go to board the plane. Arrivals are more fun for me. Recently I had to wait for a family member to arrive. Watching people new to Toronto come out of the baggage area and try to look cool while searching for someone to greet them or to determine which way to go to get a cab, bus or a waiting vehicle demonstrates a lot about people. Even with modern gadgets-cell phones, there is often a sense of urgency to find someone. Face to face is better than just texting. I like how people greet people. A smile. A hug. A kiss. Linking arms. Helping with luggage. That first conversation. Someone arriving for a holiday. Someone returning home. A group of school kids with a teacher directing them to follow me. An airport with all its levels of involvement always give me a sense of the complexities of life. The road to the airport, well marked with clues of where to go. Am I coming or going? Waiting or leaving? What is my destination? Which plane? My economic status- economy or first class! People of all ages. Single, friends, family or working! From the tower to security to ticket agents to ground crew to the cleaning staff and everyone in between, there are many people at work to keep it running. A slice of a community at large. If we put the airport under a microscope, it would tell us a lot about the larger society in which we live. So as I watch the flights go over my house at 6 a.m.- the red eyes from the western provinces or the ones in the sky south of me- the afternoon flights from Europe and other destinations or the  ones in the evening coming from the west again there is a sense of relief that the systems are in place for those coming to the area that all will be well. The airport- life itself!