Airports are boring - (Saturday aug. 5)

Did you know that? They really are. It dawns on you when you have spent six hours waiting.

Normally I see airports as busy places and my physical state is one of tension and high blood pressure when I'm there. Today is different. Today is just about killing time. There is nothing you can do but wait, occasionally checking the departure table, going to the restroom or getting something to eat.

Sitting in the cafeteria, I realize that I am part of a funny little ecosystem, with different groups of people fulfilling different roles, depending on others in funny ways. One role is obviously the one that I am playing: killing time, eating and drinking. I am dependent on the cafeteria staff, that they feed me and clean up after me. They are dependent on me - otherwise they would make no money. They are depending on each other: the chef, the guy at the counter and the waitress collaborate in intricate ways. But the others playing the same role as me, they don't need each other. From my point of view, they are just in the way, as they compete for the same resources as myself: the clerk's attention, a clean table, a more comfortable chair, some silence. My role can be subdivided into those who are rushing to catch a plane and us that are just waiting for something to happen. Super- and sub-tension. We lazy bastards are like wasps in late summer: expendable and annoying, only pursuing pleasure and comfort for ourselves.

Actually it's only the staff that experience some kind of normality in the airport. For the rest of us, it's an extraordinary experience, no matter that we may have passed through the same airport hundreds of times before. It's just a time-consuming and annoying step on our journey from one place to another. And this perception shows in the way that we behave in the airport. As we would rather not be here, we start behaving like everything is a bit unreal. Like this is not a part of life. How come I see no people kissing or hear no jokes? Do we need a sense of normality for such endeavor? I was in the queue in the cafeteria. An Italian group had just ordered their two slices of Pizza Margherita each, when the chef whispers at me "Those Italians always expect you to understand what they say in their own tongue". I hadn't heard the conversation - after all I was busy pretending not being there - but it struck me that this was really extraordinary. Someone behaving in a friendly and truly human way. Like you would talk to your colleague at work. Or your neighbour at home.


00:06. A couple of hours ago, the rumour started to spread: the fog was going to lift. Two planes have left for the Faroes. Ours is estimated to leave at 01:00. The kids are exhausted. We have been trying out several alternatives regarding comfort: either the chairs are uncomfortable or there is a draft or too much noise or too much light. Morpheus just took control of my daughter, nevertheless. She is sitting in a truly creative posture with her mouth open.



00:45. We are informed that the plane doesn't leave in quarter of an hour anyway, but we are going to spend the rest of the night in a hotel nearby. The staff starts sending passengers off in taxis. After five minutes, the airline company stops them. "An airplane has landed on the Faroes and will return for you." Confusion and irritation with the passengers as well as the airport staff. We have waited for 12 hours now. Are they going to make us stay awake for another 3-4 hours? There are a few children - it has already been a long, rough day and it is 3-5 hours past their normal bedtime. What about those who have left the airport already? Five minutes later the orders change again: we are going to the hotel. No information on if or when the plane will leave tomorrow: "You will be informed".

06:00. The wake-up call. That means we got a little over four hours sleep. Are we in a hurry? Is there breakfast? We choose to expect the worst. Hurry to get some cold water in the face and in the arm-pit. Lesson learned: always keep your toothbrush and a deodorant in your hand baggage. There turns out to be breakfast and busses are leaving around seven.

I don't know. Why do I have the feeling that it is the first time this happens to the airline company. Why do they give the impression of being unable to anticipate anything? Why is the level and quality of information so low? Actually this is something that happens a lot. It's very common that there is fog in the Faroes and the planes can't land. They should be a lot better at handling this situation. Not to scare anyone from traveling to the Faroes. Of the say 100 times that I've traveled to the Faroes, something like this has only happened 3 times. To me. But for a professional airline organisation, this is nothing extraordinary. They should be able to prove themselves as professionals in a more convincing way.

The trip was fine, although the landing was a little rough. Next step: the bus ride to Tórshavn. Normally there has been a bus waiting when you exit from the customs. Now there was a sign stating that the bus would leave in half an hour. The bus arrived and people started entering. It was raining and the bus driver was selling tickets with one hand and half a brain while using the other hand/half brain on some interesting business on the mobile phone. When half of the passengers had entered, wet as rats, he suddenly remembered that he should have been to the neighbouring village Sørvágur before coming to the airport. So the passengers were kicked out, so that he could return half an hour later, having brought noone, neither from the airport to Sørvágur nor vice versa. But properly delayed he was indeed. This country has a lot to learn when it comes to service.