Atlanta Airline Adventure II

Following the advice of Homeland Security, we arrived at the airport three hours early not knowing what to expect. At a glance nothing appeared out of the ordinary. Just another day in the Atlanta International Airport. The atrium was buzzing with commuters coming and going to destinations untold. Another day, another flight for some. If it wasn’t for my mother’s warning, I may never have guessed that we were living in the wake of the largest terrorist plot since September 11th.

Our friends from Atlanta, Lori and her live-in boyfriend Bill, waited with us in the atrium- a three-story room with a huge glass ceiling. The afternoon sun poured through the skylight in slanted rays of lazy Georgia sunlight. We drank iced mocha from Seattle Coffee. Joked about good times, about our stay, putting off the inevitable “good-byes” and “have a safe flight home”. Good times, right up to the last minute of departure.

Among a chorus of conversations, a hush fell over the crowd as a pitter-patter of handclaps erupted into a full ovation. Soldiers, dressed in their fatigues, marched through the atrium in formation. Soaking in the applause and Georgia sunlight, they smiled and waved as if it were a mid-day parade.

That day they marched right on through the Atlanta Airport; past American and International commuters alike; beneath the atrium skylight, and the craning neck of a statue of a dinosaur’s fossil-remains; past the cafeteria-comforts of fast food and iced mocha; well beyond the towering glass clock-tower; going to destinations untold. Out of sight, but not out of mind.

We applauded.

Atlanta Airline Adventure I

Tags: Atlanta, airport, plane, troops