frog design mind: 'motion'

check out the latest issue from the minds of frog design: issue 09 | motion. one of these days, i'll get around to writing an article for the publication. the theme this time around is motion, and there are some great thoughts and observations. i so could have written the 'confessions of extreme air travelers' and wish i would thought of it, but fellow frog program manager emily miller did a great job of pulling together some reflections of sky jockies. the reason i can identify so much with this article is that i spent 2 1/2 years traveling pretty much nonstop, twice a week. a few things i observed / mulled over while racking up sky miles:

• the dissociative properties of airports - whether gazing out the window at the jfk tarmac while waiting for the 6am shuttle to dc or having a salad and ale at a legal sea foods bar at logan airport, i always felt a bit removed from normal society while waiting for my flight. when waiting at an airport, the traveler is kind of stuck in this machine, temporarily immobilized with little or no control over what is happening. the only thing to do is hurry up and wait. often times i just sit and let my mind drift as the people all around me turn to a blur. it is usually then that i shiver and wonder why airports feel so cold and metallic. i guess it is because the designers and architects realized early on that these places are just a means to an end. everyone who is here just wants to get out of here as quickly as possible.

• business travelers should have their own lane of travel - after a few weeks of consistent business travel, you begin to get the hang of things, optimizing and making things efficient. you know exactly which security lines to avoid, which flights have the higest on-time rate, which seat to sit in for the best balance of comfort and efficiency (read: getting on/off plane the quickest), and the exact location of that rack of free copies of the wall street journal. you also start to notice how incredibly inefficient and annoying casual travelers really are. they clutter the airport, standing around shouting at each other and pissing off airport personnel. this is why business travelers should have their own 'fast lane.' the closest thing i found to this ironic utopia are the shuttle flights on the atlantic seaboard (and amtrak acela for land travelers). shuttle travelers can completely board a flight in 5 minutes on a moment's notice. they can get from plane to cab in 1o minutes. but then again, is this really a skill to be proud to possess or a club to be a member of?

• the miles are not worth it - i met and associated with several road warriors during my heavy business traveling days. they bragged about the several hundred thousand miles they had stored up, about how they could purchase entire caribbean trips with points and miles. they also did not get to see their daughter's tuesday night recital or catch their son's thursday night junior high game. they had teenage kids who never saw them during the week. plus, with all the restrictions and black out dates...mile redemption is a nightmare in itself. the only thing it is truly good for is first class upgrades (see next observation).

• there really is a world of difference b/w coach and first class - i used to tell myself that those hoity-toity snobs in 1st class were wasting their money. maybe they are, but once i got status and got bumped up to 1st class on a regular basis...i knew that i could never go back to that wretched cage of unhappiness and discontent called coach. everyone is pissed off in coach, even the flight attendants. they yell at and chastise passengers for leaving cell phones on for a moment too long. i used to turn around, crane my neck, and peer back down the aisle at all those unhappy faces as i waited for the stewardess to bring me my 2nd glass of pinot noir. as she gently set my wine down and whispered in my ear that i was the only one drinking pinot and that they were going to have to throw out all open bottles after this flight, i could smell the waft of warming chicken and bread coming from the oven. i would smile at the stewardess, promising her i could easily polish off the rest of the wine. then i would look back down the aisle and think to myself, "in a few minutes i will be enjoying a warm meal, a 3rd glass of half-decent wine, and the latest mediocre film to make it to air travel television. i can't go back to that awful jungle of screaming babies, 20" of leg room, and $2 cranapple juices. i just can't go back."  but now, i'm back.  i'm sitting in 17c, getting my leg slammed into by a food cart steered by an attendant who hates her job, turning my iPod up to drown out the screaming baby, and fighting a losing battle against my lower body falling asleep from being crammed into a space meant for the average-sized human....who lived in the 12th century.  i'm back to mean-mugging those first class snobs as i walk through their roomy cabin, back to smarting off to the 1st class attendant as he asks / tells me to wait to board while gets some douche who's looking down the aisle at me a glass of pinot noir.  *sigh*