The Backpack

Chapter 12

Boarding gates were fascinating places, at least to Buddy.

He had been sitting at his gate for about 20 minutes, continuing to learn about those around him. It wasn't that he thought learning about others was more important than learning about himself. Even at the ripe young age of 59, there was, Buddy regularly reminded himself, “Much to learn in the classroom of me.” But self‐growth comes from self‐reflection and the candid feedback of others. Public places were the laboratory for learning about life's fellow-travelers.

More than that, they were the places for developing and offering empathy to others.

Sitting around him there were all types of others.

There were people who felt that if you were not 30 minutes early, you were late. Then there were those who were happy to simply arrive before the cabin door closed. Some of those types preferred shopping or standing in the gourmet coffee line to being on time while others simply left home with the narrowest of margins. Then there was everybody in between, including those who were wired one way but, due to the nature of air travel, were pushed to navigate unwanted circumstances, for example, the people who wanted to be 30 minutes early for a connection but found themselves struggling to catch their breath as they recovered from running between gates due to a late arrival. Or the person with a longer layover who feels compelled to use every minute of their wait doing something they feel is productive. You can see ...