Have you ever been so dumbfounded by how people act around or what people say to complete strangers? I am constantly.

My dad loves cutting it close when dropping me off at the airport, it always works out but is incredibly stressful. I walk with a purpose always, but at the airport I have tunnel vision, and you don’t want to get in my way. The Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport is one of the busiest in the world. Growing up in Atlanta, this gave me an advantage. If I can survive what some call a nightmare ish airport, then I can easily navigate/understand other airports. This is true for most things. Atlanta really does prepare you for the big challenges like crossing 8 lanes during a merge.

I swear the airport makes people stupid. I really really really hate slow walkers. I’m sorry I just can’t. I like to keep moving, even if I don’t have a destination. At the airport I snake around people like nobody’s business. The airport does something to me, I become a different person. It feels like I am in autopilot in a fight or flight situation. So I’m frantically rushing through the airport and get to my gate. Suprise surprise, my flight is delayed and I didn’t need to hurry as much as I thought. Even though the flight is delayed, people were already lining up for boarding. There were no empty seats so I go stand against a pole. There are people behind me, it feels like they’re whispering, but I can’t make out anything. After a few minutes, an old man came over to me and whispered above my shoulder, “your shorts are stuck to your backpack, your ass is out”. Wow. What a thing to say, that was a choice. Thank you? but why were you looking at my ass?

It’s the — day old— do you tell someone their fly is down or that they have food in their teeth or just sit back and avoid the awkwardness of helping them out. Props to that old man for helping me out, but it was too late the entire Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport had already seen my ass.