Travelling Thoughts

11/21/08

Starbucks, this morning, a man behind his laptop eyed me as I waited and then proceeded to the bathroom, I wondered if he was people watching and if my entrance in his frame of view might somehow affect or appear in his writing. Now I hide behind my laptop on the end seat at JFK Airport, watching sun pockets blind arriving and departing passengers and eying pairs, families, and singles as they walk with purpose to their destination. The confident and determined, tired and meandering, frazzled and rushing, and just sitting and musing all in one place. A peak-ceilined terminal that hums with movement but is relatively quiet otherwise. The TV behind me plays news over speakers and I just heard that Clinton will be Secretary of State. To my right is a genius invention, “10:minute Manicure” a business for travelers in a hurry who want their nails done or a massage – I may walk over in a minute.
Starbucks in front of me, appears to cater to a large crowd but I resist the red holiday cups, remembering the Peppermint Mocha Twist I had this morning. Cellphones ringing, bags in hand, and eyes wandering, there are friends and business associates slowly making their way out. Few seem to not see anything around them. A couple with an infant, strapped to its mother’s chest, she sporting a cowboy hat, the father a small black velour beanie; a man, tall, handsome, in a long black trench coat and bright opaque blue sunglasses; final boarding call to all passengers at gate 7 to Barcelona; pigeons flying across the terminal; families with strollers and toddlers walk at the speed of their little legs, a pace not dissimilar to that of older passengers, taking their time and being careful; If you are traveling to Capetown please proceed to gate 6-your flight is ready to leave; flight staff and pilots looking trim and official make their way to gates, toting baggage marked with 9/11 stickers. There is a strong smell of body odor, the news is highlight a woman who weighed 375 pounds and is now 175 and riding in a hot air balloon; a man in a rodeo jacket, cowboy hat, and boots rushing towards gates 19-30…I wonder, do people think about why people are going where they are going? Do they take in the facial expressions of exhaustion, excitement, wonder, concern, and contentment as they pass? And the shoes – so many shoes from all over, clicking, stomping, shlepping, sliding, and tredding lightly on a speckled white and grey floor that glows with a nearly setting November sun. Travel is something everyone must experience and airports represent a sense of transition, change, and departure that is unique to a place that transports people to areas as far away as Cairo and as nearby as Providence. The hum consumes my thoughts and the blur of people constantly moving distracts me, I can’t think about anything other than moving – sitting makes me dizzy, people watching is tiring here; perhaps, like the man this morning, I would do better in a small town café….