Faces in Airports

I’m currently writing this while I’m sitting at Gate A30 in Newark International Airport. This is the second airport in the past five hours that I’ve mingled in, but that mingling has evoked some interesting thoughts in my head that I felt the need to express and convey to others.

Earlier today, I was at JFK International Airport waiting for my brother to arrive from Germany. Up until yesterday I didn’t even know what airline he would be flying back on due to the Lufthansa strike. You see, the reason I’m in Newark is to fly to Seattle to visit a friend that I met while volunteering with Samaritan’s Purse. He’s been bothering me for a year to come visit so I could meet his daughter, since she always hears stories about us volunteering together. A few weeks ago he bothered me again, but I told him I’d get back to him since I was playing airport chauffeur for my dad and brother. I mentioned to my mom the possibility of going to Seattle and she jokingly told me to search for flights that were leaving the same day my brother was flying back. Low and behold there was a relatively cheap flight from Newark to Seatac, so I made the “plan” to pick up my brother and then make my way to Newark for an evening flight. The thing is, though, that plans don’t always go, well, as planned. And that’s been the story of my life, so I wasn’t surprised that two days ago my brother told me his Lufthansa flight home was already cancelled due to the strike and he wasn’t quite sure what to do. Even though I had my “plan”, everyone in the family joked about how he would get home. My Oma figured he could just swim home, and my mom joked that maybe he would fly home via Australia in case the volcano in Iceland decided to erupt. Neither of those things happened, thankfully, so he booked a flight back on Singapore Airlines, our typical airline when traveling to and from Germany. To stick with the whole God-laughing-in-the-face-of-plans theme, my brother told me over lunch that he almost wasn’t able to fly back today because he accidentally booked for April 3^rd as opposed to the 2^nd, but the booking agent thankfully got him onto the flight today. But I digress.

While waiting in JFK, I did my usual people watching interspersed with reading. I’m currently reading Packing Light by Allison Vesterfelt, which is all about living life with less baggage, both literally and figuratively. What I noticed while I stood around Terminal 4 was, not only are there individuals from all over the world with different styles, religions, and skin colors, but they all have a variety of facial expressions. Without even talking to any of the people who were disembarking flights, I could tell exactly how they felt. Some looked exhausted from their international flights. Others looked exuberant, ready to explore a new found city on their travel itinerary. Then there were my favorite, the joyous reunions between family and friends. You can just watch their faces light up with immense joy to be reunited with those that they loved. Still, there are others who, when you gaze into their eyes, you can sense a low-level panic just beneath the surface. For those individuals, I imagine they either aren’t comfortable traveling alone, or they are starting their lives over and are overwhelmed by all of the unknowns within their future. So many faces surround me, and they all hold their own story.

As I sit at gate A30, though, the faces are still different. Many look serious, probably in an attempt to get some work done while waiting for boarding. Others are kicked back attempting to relax while they wait. Some are sipping on overpriced beverages that they bought at the nearby food court, probably secretly hoping they won’t have to make a bathroom run too close to boarding. Parents entertain young children, while others shut themselves out from the world around them using any means possible, but typically this is in the form of headphones, laptops, or smart phones. Everyone desperate to connect with people, just not with those on the seats adjacent to where they’re at.

I hope that there are others who take the time to be as observant as me, willing to take in their surroundings and not miss anything amid the hustle and bustle of daily life. We are so easily consumed by distractions that we hardly ever take the time to look into someone’s face, let alone their eyes, to truly get a sense of how they’re feeling. The face tells no lies, whereas communications through devices are always deceiving. 

As I close this airport ramble, it is my hope that you will take the time today to not be so selfishly engrossed in your own world, but rather to take a minute to look outside it. Share a friendly smile or head nod with someone, or any other sort of acknowledgement so that you each know you’re not in this daily battle alone.