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Spectator by Seema Goswami: It’s time to clear the air
At airports, pyjamas, hungover travellers, and lax norms abound. But do we really want to see people at their worst?
I was on my way back from my New Year break when it first hit me. Arriving at the airport at the unearthly hour of 6 am to take a flight back to Delhi, sleepy and bleary-eyed (I never can sleep when I know I have to wake up early in the morning), all I wanted was a nice cup of coffee to jolt me into consciousness. But as I walked to the coffee counter at the lounge, I realised to my horror that some of my fellow passengers were indulging in an entirely different kind of tipple. Some of them were cracking open cans of beers, others were pouring themselves glasses of wine (or was it Champagne?) while some others were hitting the vodka and gin. At 6 in the morning!
That’s when the realisation hit me: When you are at the airport, anything goes. The normal rules and regulations of civilised behaviour no longer exist, and everyone does pretty much what they want. So, if they want to anaesthetise themselves with alcohol early in the morning before they get on to their flight (presumably so that they can knock themselves into senseless slumber once they are on board) then that’s what they will do, without thought of being judged (and being found wanting).
But untimely drinking is just the tip of the iceberg. If you have spent any time at all in airports recently – and I am sure that most of you have – then you will know that this dismissal of rules extends far beyond the choice of beverage. Most of us would not want to be caught dead in our pyjamas in a shopping mall or in a neighbourhood park. But I have lost count of the number of people who turn up to the check-in counter wearing what can only be described as sleepwear. I know that the days when air travel was a glamorous activity that people dressed up for are long over. But even so, this seems to be taking the “being comfy on the plane” thing a bit too far.
You could argue, though, that how you dress does not really impact your fellow travellers, except at a purely aesthetic level. But what does destroy the peace is the propensity of people to have loud conversations on FaceTime without the benefit of earphones at the airport. And don’t even get me started on those people who watch videos on their phones and iPads or play games on top volume and look outraged when you suggest that they use their earphones.
What accounts for this complete lack of civic sense? Do we feel that when we enter an airport, we are entering some sort of other-worldly portal between two cities, a place where the norms of civilised behaviour can be thrown aboard without any fear of judgement or retribution? Do we believe that because we are surrounded by strangers and people who we will never see again in our lives, we are not required to present our best selves to them? Or is it that we feel so untethered from our daily lives at the airport, that we have come to believe that anything goes while we are there?
I really don’t know what the correct answer is. But I still think it’s worth asking the question.
From HT Brunch, January 11, 2025
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