I think it’s the people who I really enjoy watching at airports. The interactions between people is very interesting to me. For some you can tell that they’re weary travelers. I wonder from where they’ve traveled. Some look as if they’ve traveled from around the world while others just look like they’ve woken up from a long sleep. Others are conversing about the business of which they’re having to handle in the city and others are just ignoring everyone else around them. Families are talking about the memories that they’ve just made or about to make on their journey. It’s fascinating to me.
I remember when I was a single man, if I didn’t have anything to do, once in a while I’d travel to the Dallas-Fort Work International Airport just to people watch. I remember back then you could actually go to the gates where passengers were disembarking planes while others were preparing to board. Now I understand that it sounds like I didn’t have much of a life–and if you think that, you’re most likely very correct! At any rate, I would just watch people.
But what is it about people who I enjoy just siting in an airport watching them? It’s the various countries from where they’ve flown. It’s the different languages that people are speaking. It’s the different clothing that they are wearing from their lands. it’s the different styles, looks, and especially the interactions they have with others.
I remember one time, when I was sitting in an international terminal, there was a family who was dressed in beautiful colors. Their garb was obviously Indian and they were awaiting the arrival of a parent from India. Sometimes they would speak in English and at other times they would speak in their Indian dialect. That’s how I knew they were awaiting a parent. The passengers on the flight started to debark and started to come through the glass doors. The family was excited and you can just see how the excitement was still building and building as each passenger came through the door. Then the line started to thin out. Then it came to a trickle and just a few people were coming through the door. All of a sudden, the flight attendants and the pilots were coming through the door and the family all began to cry. Their parent was not onboard the plane. They had no idea where they were. They were frantic. My heart broke just watching how disappointed they were.
There’s always children in the airport. One may be squealing about this or fussing about that and you can see passengers waiting to see if that child is going to be on their plane. When they find that their flight includes the child who’s been crying for the last hour and a half in the waiting area, their faces say that they realize their flight is not going to be a quiet one. Sometimes you see people who are upset about not making an earlier flight and are complaining at the desk where the airline personnel are working. It’s interesting to me to see just how calm most of those people remain behind the desk. They really seem to want to solve the problems that people are facing when trying to get home or to their final destination. At other times, you can hear the frustration in the personnel’s voices as well when they’re being yelled at or cussed.
It’s just people being people. It’s just people trying to get to their destination. It’s just people trying to carry on with their lives, wherever they’re going, whatever they’re doing.
It’s just the airport.
D.J. Gorena 
