at the airport

For the past 10 days, I've been on the west coast, exploring LA (la la land) and SF. My flight was canceled on the way out, and now, my flight is canceled heading east. Rescheduled 10 hours later, I've had ample to time to explore Terminal 3 at the San Francisco Airport. Only one truth holds to be self-evident: airports are boring.

Working here must be the worst. I had so much time, I waited until the security was empty. EMPTY. I took off my shoes at my own pace. I even dumped my change into one of the big bins instead of the smaller designed for loose change. I then returned to ticketing to check a bag that had a multi-tool, which made it through security from LAX to SFO. Back through the empty security line. At a rate of one traveler every minute, the three TSA workers could almost keep up with the flow of luggage bins.

I keep thinking of the Harvey Danger lyric, "if you're bored, then you're boring." I used to think this implied you should always be able to entertain yourself, even in dire straits. After reading all the dining option menus fully, and eating, fully, I've found an even simpler solution, than self-entertainment - shut your mind off. Of course, this doesn't come naturally to all. Fortunately, I could from a breed of men that have been mistaken (maybe) as mentally challenged at least once. The slack-jaw, drool-drip, black stare limits the amount and texture of conversation that any strangers may try to ignite. If they approach you at all, it will be with a harmless question, spoken slowly, deliberately audible:

"are... you... lost?"

I've always thought of conversations with strangers on the same level of those daddy long-leg flying insects. You only squash the ones that try and suck something from you. Let the others keep bumping the white ceiling of your mind, or shoo them out the screen door, back to the darkness.

"do you need help?"

They're useless questions, and only the oblivious don't already know the answer: of course, I'm lost, lady. Of course I need help. I've been in an airport for 10 hours. But, there's no need to actually respond. I simply suck the escaping saliva back into my mouth.