So, I think we need to introduce predators into airports

The Traveler: 

London Heathrow. I love England. I get around good, the cab drivers are the best in the world. The people are generally pretty cool – EXCEPT – They have this bizarre habit of simply stopping where they are, forming a little social circle, and having a chat / smoke / drink / or whatever the fuck right in the middle of an otherwise active walkway.

You’ll be walking along, and all of a sudden, like in some video game, one of these pods of people will suddenly stop and become an obstacle you have to navigate around. And for all the presumed politeness of the British, there seems to be a distinct aura of don’t give a fuck, that they’ve just disrupted the flow of foot traffic.

Nowhere is this worse than in Airports. Airports are for the most part poorly designed, anyway. I mean if you put the information sign 5 feet in front of an entrance door, you have to expect that people will stop and look at it. It’s as if someone internationally designed –as a security measure— little attention grabbing do-dads to utterly fuck up anyone’s ability to move about the premises freely.

So here’s the plan. We introduce predators into airports. Maybe if navigating the airport had an element of danger to it, folks might be more mindful of staying on the move, walking with purpose, knowing where they want to go before they step off.

Of course we can sprinkle in safe zones, so that folks can hop from one to another… do their duty free shopping in safety and then back out into the breech. I’m thinking something akin to a daily commute in Sarajevo back with it was front lines in the Yugoslav civil war. Run-Dodge-Break-For-Cover.

Now, I know what the humanists are saying… but it doesn’t have to be dangerous predators… just a bunch of really pissed off cats with maybe a few Jack Russell Terriers thrown in for variety –just something to get folks to step-off with purpose.

P.S. as an added measure, how about we also get rid of the Arrivals Displays inside of the secure area… it’s been 10 years since folks have been able to get through security to meet people at the gate –so their really just something else for stupid people to stop and look at.