Why I hate Airports

Last Wednesday I had to drop my Mother-In-Law off at the airport. I should tell you upfront that I am not a big fan of airports. I am nervous as hell going to the airport. And that's wether it's me or my family or friends. I am not afraid of flying. I have other reasons for disliking it.

The process begins 2-3 days before the day of journey, in packing the bags. I pride myself in packing bags, not just mine but others too. I found myself volunteering to bag my friend’s suitcase while in school and spending (read wasting) nights at it. I hate overweight baggage. The airline services used to be more tolerant on weight, but the times have changed a lot in the last five years. Not only did they reduce the weight of bags from 70 lbs to 50 lbs each, they are also strictly imposing fees for overweight bags even if the bag was a pound in excess of the specified limit. The last time my wife had to go to India, I had to dole out $50 for the 2lbs excess weight that one bag had at the Air India terminal.

The anxiety kicks into full gear with the packing and weighing at home during this period. Adding and removing the stuff on speculation that the weighing machine is faulty, or in the hope that the airlines will be tolerant this time makes it worse. And this goes on till the day of the journey. This is more or less like the mood swings of a manic-depressive person. One day you add and other minute you remove.

While going to airports, the public is in a mad rush there trying to outwit the authority and one another. The reasons can be several and each person's story is different. Some are in a rush to reach the airport before everyone else on time to pick their loved one at the airport. Some park their car illegally on the ramp/shoulder a mile or two on the highway from the airport if the flight is delayed or waiting for the call from the one they are picking. They do this to save a few bucks on parking and in turn get busted by the police sometimes. While there are few who are there to drop off someone and park the car at the terminal gate for long hours before being asked to move by the police or the parking authority.

In saying all the above I am not trying to portray myself as a saint. In fact I succumb to the same vices I listed above. All of the above wrong doings have affected as to be pressured sufficiently to commit one or all of them myself over a period of time. I guess this is what they call peer pressure. But these wrong doings by others and myself adds a lot of pressure. This is more compounded when the passenger is International bound(read to India).

Then there is the day of the journey. One has to be there at the airport hours in advance. If the airport is two hours away and the weather like Northeast Pennsylavnia had last Wednesday, the whole day is gone. To make matters worse, if the day is a weekday that means a day off at work and loss of pay. In my recent case the Air India flight was at 7:00 PM and the ticket said the check-in must be four hours before the flight time. If I had to be at the airport by 3:00 PM, I must start driving at Noon as the airport was about 120 miles from my home and the weather was bad. If you add the same amount of time for the return journey, it makes it almost ten hours for the whole process. That is twenty hours of productive time wasted if you count my wife's time as well, as she accompanied me in dropping her Mother at the airport.

The story is continued at Airports 2