Just reLAX: Observations from an Airport
4 Findings from 5 hours at Los Angeles International
I recently spent 5 hours at LAX, during which I made some random observations.
Here I present them in increasingly philosophical order.
Observation 1:
Playtime
I witnessed two older kids playing cards together. I’m not entirely sure what they were playing; it wasn’t a branded game. They were using a regular deck of cards, arranged in front of each of them almost like solitaire piles. The only remark I overheard from the boy to (presumably) his older sister was, rather excitedly, “I got a King!”
They looked like they were having fun. I couldn’t help but smile.
Observation 2:
Journaling is a fantastic way to pass the time, even in the hustle and bustle of an airport
I brought my personal diary with me on my trip. It’s kind of silly, because I didn’t write in it the entire time…until at the airport. I had a huge amount of time to kill and had much to write about, so I popped my AirPods in, put them on noise cancelling mode without any music playing (too distracting for hand-written sentiments, I find) and just went to town. I ended up writing three full pages in my notebook and killing a not-insignificant amount of time. Processing thoughts and experiences on paper and writing out the words in curly, romantic cursive takes time. This will serve as a very unique entry to look back upon later, and overall, it was an entirely cathartic experience.
Observation 3:
Service Equals Sales
I try to bring everything I need or want in my carry on bag and personal item, and I think a lot of other people do, too, but when you’re stranded at an airport for 5 hours… to quote a line from the movie The Terminal, “There’s only one thing you can do. Shop.”
The specialty shops to the sides of the main hub? I didn’t see a single one make a sale. There was a chocolate vendor, a local sports attire store, a kids’ toy store, and a branded clothing store in addition to the main “everything” store.
The everything store was frequented, not only because they had the widest variety of stuff people actually needed or wanted, but because it was also the only store where there were employees stocking, cleaning, and keeping busy. In their own ways, they were all serving the customers.
At the other stores mentioned, the clerk was either chit-chatting with airport staff, standing behind the register staring into space, or making secret comments to a coworker.
There was a large, mostly open grab-and-go food place that housed different stations and a bar at the back. When I walked in, nobody greeted me. The only words uttered to me were, “Sorry about that,” when I had to step over a raised section of the floor, probably housing some kind of electrical or plumbing thingamajig. I didn’t buy anything there.
And I wasn’t the only one. I witnessed a woman walk up to the sports store to look at a hat. She did that thing all humans do when interested in a product—walked up to it, picked it up, admired it, flipped it over, looked at the price, put it back, and walked away.
The most the clerk did was nod at her as she was leaving. I can’t help but wonder if he had exited his personal conversation and acknowledged her, if he would have made a sale.
Same story at the other clothing store. People browsing, but no interactions. No transactions. After spending a considerable period of my life in retail, this was just plain odd. I’m not a business guru, but…
What I do know is that people want to feel important. People want to feel like their needs are being met, not ignored. People crave meaningful connections.
Businesses of any kind don’t succeed because they make and sell great stuff. They succeed because they cater to their customers. They understand their audience.
Observation 4:
Being at an airport for 5 hours offers a great lesson in how to be bored, notice things, and deal with difficult emotions/situations— otherwise known as “Being Present” or “Mindfulness”
Somewhere along the line of traditions thousands of years old, we’ve lost the plot of mindfulness.
To illustrate my point, what’s the first thing you think of when you think of mindfulness?
…
……
………
Did your brain conjure up images of a Zen monk sitting in meditation or something similarly serene? That’s perfectly acceptable, and…
Mindfulness and presence can also be born in advance of, because of, and out of chaos. As in “The calm before the storm”, “Cool under pressure”, or “The crowds started to die down”.
Being at a busy airport asks, “How can/will you…?”
How level-headed can you be when a TSA agent tells you to get your laptop out of your bag and into another tray after 5 or 6 people have already lined up behind you?
How calm can you be when bombarded with (precisely 8) different texts about ever-later boarding and departure times?
How will you witness a (presumed) father physically and verbally abuse his (presumed) barely teenaged daughter when she dropped something?
How can you show compassion for a flight attendant crying in a stall and attempting to blot away those tears in front of the mirror in the bathroom?
How can you help a couple who doesn’t speak English figure out gate changes?
How can you remove yourself gracefully from situations and people who disrupt your sense of safety?
Despite the flight getting moved back over 2 hours, then having another delay when it came time for boarding, and yet another delay when we landed— by the time I should have been downright grumpy, I was the most peaceful and happy I had been all day.
Listening to one of my favorite albums. Knowing that I was almost home. Knowing that others' stress was not my stress to take on. None of it was my burden to bear.
By the time I did arrive home, I had been up for over 18 hours. It had been a long day in every sense of the phrase. I’m convinced that those marathon kind of days that take a great deal of mental and physical stamina, as well as a heaping amount of restraint to get through, should be put into retreat programs worldwide. Who knows, you might learn more about how to appreciate the little things, practice non-attachment, and reLAX at an airport than in some shaman’s hut in Peru.
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Credits:
If you’re a Nerdfighter like me, (IYKYK) you might be familiar with “As you can see by the gray speckled walls behind me, I find myself at an airport” and the “Thoughts from Places” saga that debuted 14 years ago and has been going on ever since.
This post is an homage to that storyline and a continuation of that conversation, written in my own style.
Thank you so much for the restack! I’m glad you enjoyed this post! What was it about it that you liked the most?