Katie arrived at the airport. She arrived at the suggested time of two hours before her flight. The security line went by fast. She always had to wait in a long line. She found her gate for her flight. Since the security line was shorter than Katie thought, she went to search for food.
She found a small restaurant near her gate number. Katie ordered and had her food in a corner of the seating area. She admired the people walking to their gates, the late passengers running to their flights, and the people walking through the different tourist shops.
A tall man sat near her. She thought about getting up and going to her gate but she realized she still had time to people watch.
“Where are you headed to?” the tall man asked Katie.
“Oh… I am going to Chicago, you know. Work calls,” Katie replied.
“Nice. I am going to New York. My friend is meeting me there, we are going to sightsee,” he said. Katie smiled. “Have you ever been to New York?” he carried on the conversation.
“Yes. I have. It’s a great place. I have been there a couple of times before,” Katie said.
“I have been there too. My friend has not, her first time. She seems very excited. What do you do as your job?”
“I’m a journalist. My company found there is a great story to cover in Chicago and I got picked to cover it.”
“That’s pretty cool. I am a college professor. I teach history. What do you like to cover the most?” he kept questioning Katie.
“I am in the entertainment aspect. There is a convention in Chicago that we’d like to report about. What do you like about history?” Katie asked becoming more comfortable talking to this mysterious man.
“I like to learn about personal history. There are so many people in this world with a different history and life. I think it is very interesting. When I sat down, I noticed you people watching, one of my favorite activities. But, for class reasons, I mostly teach about 1900’s European history.”
“I see you got the same sandwich as me. I thought it was okay, you know, for airport food” Katie observed.
He laughed. “Yeah, not the best. But also helps cure my growling stomach.”
They sat in silence people watching, an activity they had in common. They watched several people walking by in their natural airport habitat.
“Hey. I like to try and figure out people’s lives stories when I am people watching. Want to do it together?” he said.
“Yeah. Sounds fun” Katie replied.
For about thirty minutes Katie and the man laughed and made up stories for each airport passenger they saw walking by. They amused themselves with the crazy and complicated stories they came up with. They were bonding very well, Katie thought. Each person they saw had an amazing story to them. Katie was actually having fun and passing the time until her flight. Katie noticed the time.
“My flight is going to be leaving soon. This was very fun and I will remember our time together,” Katie stated.
“Oh no. You have to leave already… I don’t think we exchanged our names.”
“My name is Katie.”
“Mine is Henry. Have a great flight.”
She picked up her belongings and headed towards her flight gate. She turned back to Henry and noticed he was gazing at her. He noticed her, he waved goodbye at her. She smiled and turned back. Henry proceeded to people watch for the rest of the time.