GETTING "HIGH"

Forget the illegal drugs, ecstasy, heroine, and marijuana, to name a few.  You can even nix the legal drugs, nicotine and alcohol.  To get high, I simply need to sit in an airport lounge.  I freely admit to my addictive love of airports.  Too bad I can't mainline that bubbling anticipation year round.

Okay, I can hear your puzzled cry, But what of the impersonal, degrading security lines, the crowded moving sidewalks, the dreary waits, the crush of humanity.  What a colossal pain!  Sorry, but your complaints fall on deaf ears; you will never change my mind no matter how negative your comments, no matter how dire your horror stories.  You see, I savour every minute spent in an airport from limo drop off to airplane take off.  Each moment brings me one step closer to the adventure of travel.  International flights require that passengers arrive at least three hours in advance of departure.  This junkie shows up three hours in advance for even the shortest domestic flight.  Air Canada RapidAir to Montreal departing at 1030 hrs will see me stepping into Pearson at 730 hrs.  True!  Just confirm with Jim, Christopher or Matthew.  I can see their rolling, long-suffering, ah-really-Mom eyes, already.  Any flight, domestic or international, provides me with just the excuse I need to spend time in an airport.

I love the energy and bustle of people on the go.  For an inveterate people watcher, any airport provides prime people watching fodder.  At my leisure, I can study the crowds, a veritable melting pot of different age groups, nationalities and accents.  Such diversity!  I wonder, What business is he in?  Where is that family going?  Who is behind those giant sunglasses?  Are they grandparents flying out to meet their first grandchild?  In my imagination, each passenger is assigned an individual story.

And then there is that magical Departures Board with its ever-changing list of exciting destinations, each holding the promise of adventure, learning and future possibility.  Where to next time? I already ponder.

The high pitched whine of engines warming up, the powerful roar of jets preparing for takeoff and the rumbling vibration of these giants of the sky as they career down a runway gathering speed for take off, make my skin tingle with excitement.  Flight, to me, will always be a miracle.  Imagine, in seven or more hours, those passengers can be transported to Rome, Paris, Istanbul.......  Whomever it was who referred to airports as giant hubs of possibility, had it right.  So deep is my addiction that the mere sight of a jet at the gate lifts my mood.  The giant majestic bird seems to stare me in the eye and say, Soon, Daphne, soon!

Best of all, of course, is the airline PA announcement, Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the preliminary boarding call for Air Canada Flight 880 with service to Charles de Gualle Airport, Paris.  ( Feel free to insert your own dream destination here. )  All passengers should have documents ready and be prepared to board.  Would anyone requiring assistance and........ Dear god, I love those words.

And so here we sit, in the lounge, people watching, getting revved on the sights and sounds of such addictive travel promise, and eagerly awaiting our call.  Pour l'instant, au revoir!