Travel

Recently I was waiting in airports and doing a bit of travelling. While there, I noticed that people tend to be friendlier while in the airport (or bus stations or train stations). Sure, some people are grumpy or stressed, but people talk to random strangers far more in an airport or on a plane than I think that they do in many other places. Sure, it can be awkward sitting next to someone for 7 hours without talking to them. However, in today's digital world, you just plug in your MP3 player, put on your headphones, play your video game, or turn on the portable DVD player and away you go: into solitude. It is quite easy to block people out, and yet people in airports often don't. They want to talk to the person next to them and hear their story, if only for a little while.

I have often wondered about why this is. Maybe it is excitement about being on holiday. Maybe they want to know who is next to them in case the plane crashes. Maybe they are bored. Maybe people have a desire to connect with each other and just don't make the time for it during the course of their daily lives. Maybe it is none of these or a combination of all of these. Just something to ponder.