one goes from the real world
into a fabricated system
one leaves a loved one
and travels into a controlled mayhem
of strangers
strangers moving with similar objectives
travelling strangers travelling together
remaining all the while
virtual strangers
one walks away from the only place
where meaning seems to mean something
and into a vaccuum of temporary distraction
self revelation destination plastic food stops
one goes from being rather quiet and slow
to moving very fast perhaps 600 mph at the fastest
in dallas we played musical gates
shifting from one gate to the next 5 times
before we matched up with the right plane
that took 150 virtual strangers
to the same place
each stranger returning to the place of
optimal meaning for him/herself the best
meaning he can work out for now
i went in one morning from utter peace
and sweetness to maybe 50 mph down the
steep hill
to maybe 75 mph on the interstate
then to a pause a suspended waiting
in the glass and steel airport
then a slow taxi to the runway
maybe 20 mph
then the speed down the runway to
150 mph then lift off
then increased speed to 300 mph
then leveling off above the southern califronia hills
to approx 600 mph
then a reverse motion
a slowing in the air
landing in dallas
dancing in dallas
doing the airport gate shuffle
then a repeat process to MPLS
i had the distinct feeling that
while it is possible to fly
it is not a healthy thing for people to do
it is efficient and
relatively clean
but somehow inhuman
stuffing people into a long tube
zooming them across the sky and charging
a huge amount of money to do it
seems rather grimey
like the spilt oil and grease around
the service hatches on the airplane wing
i know i am very close to people on a plane
very close to strangers
i will never even know their names
but i can smell their odors
and they mine i suppose
it is rocket flight
the light blue night sky
sandwiching the infrared cloud
above the darkening atmosphere
of the great plaines
audible cacaphonous white din noise is a constant in the airports
most everyone is hypnotized
there are not a lot of choices
in the airport
CNN demands attention
on a huge 30 by 30 ft screen
laptops and handheld communication devices abound
little black plastic bubbles hang from the ceiling
cameras
and the roof is littered with antennae
humanity never so close
never so far
never so collectively fast
never so collectively benighted
to drive away from the airport
is a way of driving away from
a sort of widespread agreed-upon
abuse
in a place of relative quiet
i reflect back on the airport
it is a machine for travelling/living
but airports in general are truly places of nowhere
noplace
you cannot stay there for very long
ever
catapult transcending geography
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9 comments:
I've heard that excessive air travel makes your brain shrink.
Really, literally, a human brain shrinks when it spends a lot of time flying in jets.
but airports in general are truly places of nowhere
noplace
you cannot stay there for very long
ever
...au contraire, mon phrere! Urban airports appeal to rich hipsters--they embody velocity, motion, high-tech globalism...anonymity. Everyone's a star at the LAX aviation bistro--most humans, apart from the few Ma and Pa Kettles enjoy the sense of adventure,even the hint of the peril. It's hotsexxay too, with the stewardesses sauntering around, pouring drinks...mysterious strangers headed to hotel kix....
even with a quickie over to Phoenix from like Burbank and you can swill a few tanq and tonics, munch down on peanuts, get that coach-din din. It's when you head back to baptist-ville that reality sets in...or somethin' like that.
j
an aside but
not impertinent
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/opinion/09sun4.html?th&emc=th
i guess my point is that
yes there are people in airports and
i would suppose a certain style
there's a caste system
first caste
preferred caste
honor business caste
army caste
but it is all empty
momentary distractions
from lives that may well be
as empty as the distractions
but nobody hangs around airports
for very long
except maybe highend whores
international heist thugs
and cops
the ground crews are a strange society unto themselves
what are those folks sniffin
a weird wired extension of hollywood
without the superficial narratives
just one block human condition on the move story
if the electricity shut down nobody could stay in an airport terminal it would be stifling
if airtravel ceased they would become empty shells
which of course they already are
the real airport only exists at about 2 am
bill
perhaps my headache
was a symptom
of your insight
and that is why perhaps
everyone is held in
suspension saying nothing
lost in lowlevel fear
held between utter destruction and hope
i was reading john g neihardt and that kept me somewhat grounded
maybe manicheans (or polydeists of some sort) were not entirely mistaken and demons at times get the better of...seraphim-ic creatures. Like Ellay itself--controlled by demons (often through technology..ie Techne...planes autos computers cellphone demon).
that or just ordinary darwinian naturalist predation
I got on the plane in Seattle bound for Milwaukee two days before Christmas. The plan was to help my wife sort out some home care issues with the people providing assistance to my mother-in-law.
Delta had swallowed Northwest whole eight months earlier, so instead of a stop enroute in Minneapolis or Detroit, the usual Northwest hubs, my flight went to Milwaukee via Dallas. According to the schedule I had thirty minutes to change planes in Dallas.
I was seated in the first row of business class, sipping free champagne. I've got lots of frequent flyer miles so I tend to get upgrades on domestic flights. My seatmate turned up about ten minutes before the flight was due to depart. She was blonde, ten years younger than me, and wore jeans with boots of Spanish leather that ended at her knees. She'd just flown in from Maui where she'd been working on her tan. I was on my third glass of champagne when the plane finally rolled onto the runway, an hour and twenty minutes late. It was clear by then I'd be spending the night in Dallas.
She was good company. Her father had been on the business school faculty at the university I had attended, so it wasn't hard to connect as we were both faculty brats. Her mother had started a consulting business back when I was still a student. She gave advice to private companies that provided public services, like airlines, for instance. The daughter had worked for her mother and took over the business when her mother retired. She had just sold it a year or two earlier for far more money than she knew how to spend. Her biggest client had been the airline that owned the plane we were aboard.
She told me I'd be getting a voucher at the ticket counter for a meal and a hotel close to the airport for my night in Dallas and that I could get an upgrade to a newer hotel on request. She gave me her card shortly before I got to the ticket counter. She'd started up a new business, marketing some kind of variation on a popular board game. She said I could call her or send her an e-mail if there were any problems with my overnight accomodations. As near as I could tell, the hotel's only guests were stranded travelers.
travelmarketgirl
lioness hair
yep high heeled
tight jeans
busy on her laptoptoplaptop
tiptoplaptop
headgear little mic
she talks into
busy girl whisking whirling
pleasure is her business
time to swing
ladies and gentlemen if you have more than two bags
please consolidate
or check the bags there is a 15 dollar charge for bags
the flight will be boarding in 20 minutes
craig
i hope you took a good shower
jh
where's say Mahony ..or El Papa..or any major religious leaders--catholic, xtian, jewish, muslim,etc--, or judicial barons ala Scalia discussing technological dystopia, the LA auto-nightmares, airports, the Net, media, or silicon valley aristocrats??/ No where.
Monotheism depends on indoctrinating people--this world just prepares us for the next, according to tradition...
il papa
pal
has spoken out rather daringly on matters of science and technology
some say he's put his foot in his mouth
but i think he takes the issues of man's ability to manipulate nature very seriously as he should as i should as everyone should
hey didn't cardinal mahoney get beat up by some west LA thugs i mean that guy has some street cred
maybe we're all pawns in a hyped up cybermedia blitz
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