This weekend I flew out to Dallas, Texas for Thanksgiving with my parents from the Atlanta International Airport. If you are like me, you grew up with a dad that made sure your family was at the airport at least two hours prior to your departure time. Being the daddy's girl that I am, I obviously carried this somewhat unnecessarily, but this irreversible ritual is with me into my adulthood. If this at all resonates with you, you also know you almost always have an hour or more to kill at the departure gate.
Departure gates are actually a fantastic place to people watch. Families argue about where to eat. Children squirm and ask "how much longer?" People sleepily read articles on their phone or tablet. Others thumb through a classic paperback book. Some people are silent. Some look distraught. Some frantically drink coffee and prepare and practice for the meetings that await them in the cities they are flying to. Its an interesting place, the airport.
I laughed to myself as I realized that talking to people you don't know had somehow turned into a taboo. We have coined the term "strangers" and affiliate danger or suspicion with people that we do not know. I personally think people are so incredibly interesting and captivating, so I decided to break this social norm at gate A18 this past Saturday.
(as a disclaimer, I am the worst with remembering names, so prepare for an absurd amount of pronouns - next article I will write their names down, I promise)
A man sat down next to me and I asked him how he was doing. He looked at me, a little shocked, and said he was doing well. He smiled uncomfortably and tried to divert the conversation by looking at the TV overhead. I just sat there smiling. A few minutes later he looked at me, laughed and said he could hardly even see the TV because he had to crane his neck so far.
The next we knew a woman and her two sons chimed in. This woman had traveled from Dallas the same day and was coming to Atlanta to pick up her two sons. She had already been awake since three in the morning and was studying to become a home realtor between flights.
This exhausted woman and I talked for a while and then a couple from Amelia Island chimed in. The woman was a teacher. She and I spoke about how the education system had been so drastically changed over the years and that education is no longer about building character and learning life skills, but about cramming mass amounts of information into children's' heads to produce competitive test scores. Her husband is from California and he told me about his previous travels to India with the company he worked for.
This chain reaction continued. Of course traveling to Dallas it was expected that I would encounter some Cowboys fans (props to Tony Romo for letting the rookie continue playing as QB). I met three men, as we all boarded the plane, headed to the game.Their hopes and spirits were high, and they certainly lifted mine (even higher than they already were).
It was exhilarating, talking to people and learning a little bit about their lives and where they were headed. The gate seemed to come to life with all of us conversing. People were smiling and laughing and wishing each other luck and safe travels. It was uplifting.
Man was made for man. Man was not made to be alone. Technology and society teach us to be internal, self-reliant and reserved. God says Man was made for one another. We are meant to enjoy each others company, create relationships, learn about each other and teach one another.
Genesis 2:18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
Hebrews 10:24-25 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
Hebrews 13:1-2 Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters.Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.
Next time you are in a public place and have the choice between isolating yourself in your own world or learning a little bit about someone else's world, I challenge you to choose the latter.
You might learn something. You might teach someone something. You might even find yourself a little more joyful and encouraged. After all, we were never created to be on our own.
