so when did air-travel stop being glamorous?
was it ever?
seems like it was once.
now it just sucks.
airports are like giant bus stations, except 100 times more annoying.
at least in bus stations you don’t have long lines
and endless security checks and invasive pat-downs
and ‘sir, take off your shoes’ and unexplained
delays and etc annoying etc.
and the irony is that now the least stressful part
of air-travel is when you’re actually up in the air.
isn’t that supposed to be the stressful part?
the ‘i wonder if we’ll crash?’ part?
now the stressful part of air-travel is every single
thing leading up to getting on the plane.
you might love air-travel.
i personally don’t mind being up in the air, but 98% of the airports
in the world(and 100% of the airports in the u.s)have become
depressing and frustrating and annoying and overcrowded
transportation hubs.
i sometimes think that the companies that make private planes
actually pay airports to be more annoying so that more people
will buy private planes.
ok, i’m tired and cranky and i’ve been in 6 airports in 4 days and
i have that ‘airplane cleaning fluid’ smell covering me and my clothes
and i think it’s time for me to go to bed and sleep in a prone position
for a change.
do they still make sleep?
where do i buy it?
will i dream?
moby

can i vent? please? can i?
ok, thank you…i loathe air-travel. ok, i take that back, i don’t loathe the air-travel itself (although it can be pretty loathsome, actually), what i loathe are all of the ancillary things that surround air-travel. the long, traffic congested, drives to the airport. the long lines at check in. the long lines at the metal detectors. the surly people who work at the airports (i don’t blame them, of course, i’d be surly if i had to work in an airport). the delays with no explanations. the over-congested waiting areas. the ‘bookstores’ with nothing but disposable fiction about gruesome murders (some of which are actually pretty good…oops, i’m not reinforcing my vent…). the long, long walks from the plane to baggage. the lost luggage. the long lines for taxis outside of the airports. the ugly airport buildings themselves.
i guess i could continue, but i’m feeling much better now, thank you.
i know that venting is distasteful, but i just needed to get it out of my system (even though i have to go to the airport tomorrow…ugh…).

at one point wasn’t air-travel supposed to be sort of glamorous or exciting? what happened? is it just me?
there’s nothing glamorous about a bunch of angry people overcrowded into an ugly waiting lounge while their plane is delayed for 3 unexplained hours.
and when did the powers that be decide to make every new american airport beige?
all of the old and beautiful airports are architecturally interesting (dulles, twa int’l at jfk, tempelhof, marine air at lga, etc), so why is every american airport that’s been designed in the last 25 years so ugly and beige? (ok, denver’s airport is aesthetically not so bad, but it’s still horrifying once you’re inside).
beige? who likes beige? who wants a beige building? do they make them beige cos they think it’s beautiful? or cos it resists dirt? or cos they don’t want to offend what they perceive as bland, american aesthetic sensibilities? again, ugh.

there are some great architects working today, why don’t they design airports? i guess norman foster did, but i haven’t seen it.
why not a tadao ando airport? or a frank gehry airport? or arquitectonica?
wow, this has been a petulant rant. thank you for listening.
and if you have to spend time in an airport in the near future, you have my sympathies.
-moby