these are not places

airports are strange things. i'm in one right now (it's the first internet access i've had for over a week) in columbus. airports seem to epitomize all the things that make me feel weary of americanized western culture: the superficiality of airport relationships, the pure functionality of the architecture, the quick-in/quick-out attitude, the speed-speed-speed of the whole thing. in some ways, airports are the definition of our ideals of efficiency. we attempt to eliminate slow-downs through people walkers, escalators, skycaps, drive-by drop-offs, e-tickets, tiny portions of food. we sit next to strangers who we might live in the same neighborhood with, but the airport strips away most pretentions of localness, neighborliness. they are no-wheres. the places that are not places--unless you work here, your time spent here is not an investment in the place. and i'm sure if you do work here, you likely feel the same thing--this is temporary, no one here is worth investing in. merry christmas. try not to fly.