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I’ve had a lot of jobs, both paid and volunteer, full-time and part-time, enjoyable and dreaded. In rough chronological order, I’ve been a cashier, lifeguard, ESL instructor, international banking analyst, oil and gas corporate lender, project finance banker, financial writer, college English professor, Spanish tutor, memoir editor, community board chairperson, foodbank volunteer, and urban farm office helper. But I might have just finished the sweetest little job of my career: information desk lady at my local airport!

I worked at the smaller of two airports in the fourth largest city in the U.S. It’s small but mighty, and it is the first and, to date, only 5-star airport in North America (according to air transport rating agency Skytrax). If I may brag about “my” airport, I will say that despite my own anecdotal evidence and probably yours, most flights really do leave on time or very close to it. The airport is constantly being cleaned, and the janitorial staff really seems to care about how things look. The TSA men and women are serious but generally kind (do not roll those eyes), open to helping find lost items and announcing every little thing that has been left behind. We have artists-in-residence, live musicians, and an art collection, all of which I’m convinced add to civilized behavior and attitudes. I’m proud of the clean facilities, amenities, and service-oriented employees that helped us earn and keep this status.

Most photos here are of the traffic signal control boxes in the neighborhood around the airport.

I only work a day or two a week, and they’re not even full days. I sit in a huge, stainless steel “command center” right after the security checkpoint, and nearly everyone traveling that day needs to pass my desk. I am so eager for interaction that I rarely look down at my computer screen or notepad, instead constantly turning my head left and right and smiling at everyone who passes me, letting people know I am friendly and open to questions. As a result, I serve anywhere from two to three times as many airport customers as my fellow workers do on a given day.

Even when I’ve been very busy in my outside life, I have looked forward to my days at the airport, settling into my high swivel stool, knowing that the coming hours will keep me from my texts, emails, phone calls, and other annoying problems. It’s hard to worry about things at home when I am jumping up every minute or two to direct someone to the right gate, keeping people from pushing wheelchairs onto a moving sidewalk, or calling the operations center to clean up dog poop (yes, people leave that behind in airports, too, not just your yard or city sidewalks).

What are the most popular questions I get? Some days, I have dozens of people asking me where the Chick-fil-A is; other times, no one at all asks me this, and instead I’ll have multiple queries about our lounges. (We have none, I am always sorry to say.) I’m frequently asked where passengers can go to smoke between flights, and I spend plenty of time explaining all the food and beverage options to people. I help travelers find Ubers, pet relief stations, ATMs, rental cars, diapers, and iPhone chargers. I know where everything is here, right down to the exact locations where passengers can find Starbucks, the USO, an interfaith chapel, the shoeshine stand, the coldest water fountain, the shortcut to Eco-Park, and the quietest place to take a conference call.

My small job has miraculously shown me the very best in people. I would have guessed that air travelers would be stressed out and, therefore, rushed and cranky. On the contrary! I would estimate that over 90% of the people I have seen are relaxed, friendly, and largely unhurried (clearly they do not use my last-minute strategy for arriving at airports). There is very little rage, an emotion we see so often in public and online. In a world that seems less and less polite every day, the denizens of our airport have renewed my belief that people are mostly good. We read such awful news every day, and we see social media accounts that celebrate terrible behavior and attitudes, so one of the very best perks of my job has been seeing just the opposite. I come home feeling good about people; how many jobs can do that these days?!

People who miss flights are frustrated but stoic, asking only for help in finding another option. It is surprising how many adults are flying for their very first time, and I love making them feel more comfortable and confident. Dozens of people turn in found cell phones, glasses, bulging wallets, licenses, clothing, toys, and even a complete engagement ring and wedding band set, and they truly care about getting these items back to their owners. I’ve been warned that stopping parents from taking strollers onto the moving sidewalk will get me vitriolic responses, but when I smile and say ‘please’ and ‘thank you,’ I discover most people are perfectly happy to wheel their baby off to the side and even thank me for keeping them safe.

If you’re a natural people-watcher like I am, this is an amazing job. I study and admire all the snappy travelers – their clothing, bags, shoes, and even hairdos. I marvel/wince at some others; bare midriffs are everywhere in public now, in case you haven’t noticed, and pajamas appear at the airport with startling regularity just as they do in roadside hotels these days. (Luckily, these PJ’ed people are wearing shoes, unlike the hotel breakfast crowd.) I enjoy the juxtaposition of professionals in business suits and high heels with the athleisure crowd, the scantily clad, and even people in costume (like those headed to Mardi Gras in massive dresses and bonnets). An unscientific survey would have the Astros and LSU tied for first place among the sports jersey wearers, joggers as the traveling pants of choice, and upright spinner bags as the most popular luggage.

As much as I dislike stereotyping, I need to make a short women-vs-men comment here. I sit close to a very large sign that directs people to Baggage Claim, Gates 1-5, etc. Most women read this sign. Many of their male partners or colleagues do not, and when the woman begins to veer off, or they both slow down to ascertain their direction, the male invariably wants to keep following the crowd, even when it is clearly in the wrong direction and his female companion is trying to tell him this. I watch with amusement and in anticipation of my next interaction. I won’t get into the whole “men don’t ask for directions” cliché, but let’s just say that when they eventually come back and ask me where to go, the women usually nod in an “I told you” way.

In a similar vein, I have noted in my anthropological survey of the airport species that young parents have a very distinct division of labor. The mother generally carries one child, holds the hand of another, loops the diaper bag and a carry-on over that same arm, and pushes the stroller that the second child has refused to get into. Occasionally, the dad has a car seat to carry, but usually his only baggage is a cell phone, into which he is talking while mom schleps everyone and everything else toward the gate. (To my son who is reading, you are exceptional in this way as well! 🙂 )

People glaze over a bit at airports. There is a brain fog that must be triggered by security or a plane change. Some of these zombies walk straight onto the oncoming moving sidewalks, the DO NOT ENTER signs apparently too high for their locked-in gazes to see. They leave their passports, phones, and keys in the security bins, they drop their jackets and blankets while walking and don’t even notice, and they are incredibly oblivious to gate change announcements that are crystal clear and abundantly loud for most ears. An enormous number of people mistake their boarding position or seat number for the gate assignment, and I have had more than one traveler who booked connecting flights without realizing that they were going into and out of totally different airports (that are 30 miles apart and on opposite sides of the city).

But back to the good stuff, which is the main reason for my post. I see our travelers as being on an adventure, even if it’s just a work trip, and they are mostly on their very best behavior. I see very little sniping between spouses and partners, parents and kids. People are nice to me and nice to each other. I have seen how powerful a smile can be, whether it ramps down a Type-A executive facing a delay or comforts a young woman rushing to catch a plane to her little brother’s funeral. Our airport is a microcosm, and it’s a benevolent, efficient, lovable one, and I’ll very much miss both working and traveling in and out of here when we leave the city in a month for our new home in another state. Of course, they have an airport, too, so maybe I’ll take my resumé there and move up to a bigger desk!