The Airport

Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow airport.

General opinion makes out that we live in a world of hatred and greed.  I don't see that.


Seems to me that love is everywhere. Hugh Grant as the Prime Minister in "Love Actually"


At the end of August 2006 I went to visit one of my best friends in her home town.  I told her that she did not have to pick me up at the airport, she absolutely insisted. Who was I to argue with her?


It was the first time since November of the previous year that I had seen her, but her source as to why she came all the way to the airport: Love Actually and the opening monologue by "David", Hugh Grant's character.




The airport represents a magical place. Besides the obvious, how physics and technology work together to defy gravity, and how retailers can manage to charge

an arm and a leg for everyday basic items ($4 for a bottle of water that I can't even take on the plane anymore! Thank you airport restrictions) What really makes it so magical is at the Arrivals and Departures gates.




Arrivals is where reunions occur - people anxiously await for their family, friends and other loved ones to come back from a trip. Trips as short as a weekend can sometimes seem like an eternity for two people who are not used to being apart.


There's no better feeling in the world than seeing the person that you're meeting at the airport and getting that hug that has eluded the two of you for so long.  All the time and physical distance between you can disappear in a split second with that first hug.


A reunion at the Arrivals gate is enveloped with feelings of happiness and an air of suspense and excitement.  Each time the door opens, you wonder "Is it them yet? When will they get there?"

The happiest place on earth? The Arrivals gate, not Disneyland. Afterall, how often does someone go all the way out to the airport and pay a small fortune for parking to pick up someone they don't like.



But on the flip side, Departures has the sentiments opposite that at Arrivals. No one likes to say "Good bye", no matter how short a period.  And when it is for an indeterminate period... well that makes the "Good bye" that much harder.

But the good thing about the Departures gate: when the people close to your heart are only a plane ride away, get on it, and have them meet you at Arrivals.  The feeling you get when you see them again will outweigh the cost of the ticket...