Hacker News Reader

Comment by AgentME | Hacker News Reader

Am I the only one that likes airports? (Well, besides the annoying security theater.) Once you're in, you've got no other responsibilities besides showing up at a door at a specific time. You can't feel bad for not doing those other things you know you probably should be eventually doing, because you're busy in an airport! It's the one place I won't have any doubts at all about the way I'm spending my time when I sit around and read.

... Reading my post and considering my apparently-unique love for airports makes me wonder if I have some kind of anxiety issue.

View on HN

> ... Reading my post and considering my apparently-unique love for airports makes me wonder if I have some kind of anxiety issue.

Yeah. This seems more like a reason for you to reflect and relax.

I've got anxiety issues of my own, but they tend to surface at the airport. Waiting at the gate is a perfect time to go through my mental checklist of what I packed, and await the realization that I've forgotten something critical (deodorant? socks? laptop adapter? to book a hotel?) or to look forward to everything that can go wrong during the trip (that airplane looks pretty old. Will I have time to visit with everyone I want to? Will I have to visit people I don't want to see? Will I get downtime to myself? What if I get sick while I'm there? What if I get sick right before I'm leaving?)

It completely depends on the airport.

My parents home is in Houston, Texas and I flew to college at Hobby Airport. The waiting and gate area was large and big, it had free wifi and a ton of places where I can eat (breakfast, lunch, or dinner food) or sit down.

When I was going back home from college, I had to wait at LaGuardia. LaGuardia's terminal for my airplane company of choice is depressing and always packed to the point where there was nowhere to sit. It also only had two places to buy food and both were breakfast places (Dunkin' Donuts). I eventually timed the train/taxi to the airport such that I spent as little time as possible waiting there.

Anyway, that's a rant I've been meaning to make for a while if you'll excuse me. A bad airport is anxiety-inducing.

I feel the same way, when I'm not rushed to catch a plane. It's a good place to relax, especially if I have a reasonably lengthed layover.

I like them too for the same reasons (after I passed all the controls). And as a frequent flyer, I like to congratulate myself over my well-optimized routine!

Sitting on the plane sucks though if you're not first class.

I'm 6 feet tall and the lack of legroom and claustrophobia is tough to deal with, especially if the person in front of me inconsiderably leans their seat back.

The last three flights I was on had us sitting on the tarmac 40 minutes each time before take-off due to various maintenance/ATC issues. Of course, you couldn't open your laptop either (but I did anyway).

The flight attendants also have a habit of asking me to close my laptop when it isn't anywhere near time to land yet.

No, I like flying as well, except for the security bullshit.

It is nice to have a meal, watch people, observe the infrastructure, see where you could go from there, and so on.

If the only thing I need to do is show up at a door at a time, why do I need to sit in front of wall-to-wall advertising for hours first?

Why, in short, do I need to wait at all?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com