In my capacity as editor of Fleet Maintenance Magazine, I travel frequently. On those occasions when I get to an airport early for my flight, I try and find a quiet spot to catch up on phone calls, emails and other work.
Finding a quiet spot, as any frequent flyer knows, is no easy task. There are people talking loudly on their cell phones, plus constant boarding announcements, flights updates, advisories, etc.
Live Music
I was in Nashville, TN, recently for the Technology & Maintenance Council’s 2017 Annual Meeting & Transportation Technology Exhibition. Nashville’s reputation as a musical center has earned it the nickname: Music City. There is music everywhere, even on street corners.
I got to the airport a little early for my flight home and located what I thought was a quiet spot where I could work. Things were progressing nicely – for a while.
Where are you?
I was in the middle of a phone call when a woman with an acoustic guitar began loudly crooning a country song through a sound system. Shortly thereafter, the business person I was taking with asked me: “Are you in a bar? Really? It’s 9.44 in the morning.”
“I’m in the boarding area for my flight home from Nashville,” I responded. “There must be a bar nearby that has live music.”
“Right,” he said, after which we finished our call.
Proof
I found that the music did indeed come from a nearby airport bar that featured live music. I grabbed my cell phone, took a photo to prove it and texted that photo to the individual I’d been talking with, along with a note: “See!”
“Right,” he texted back. Some five minutes later he texted: “How do I know you weren’t in there?”
I wasn’t, but how to prove that. I asked a person sitting nearby if they would be good enough to take a photo of me working in the boarding area. The person did just that and I texted it along the note: “See!”
“Right,” was the reply.
My flight was called and I boarded. As we winged our way to Baltimore, I pondered: “I wondered what he meant by that?”
