Stuck in Denver and Loving It!

I’m sitting in the Denver airport at the moment. I’ve been here for almost two hours on a layover from Salt Lake to Indianapolis. As soon as I walked out into the terminal I could see that this airport is not a small one. I remember that O'Hare was big but I always had Pops to help me around that one. Coming from Salt lake, I’m more accustomed to a smaller airport, with only a few terminals that are very close together. As far as I’ve seen, and maybe I’m wrong, there isn’t really a very high demand for moving walkways in Salt Lake. (I'll address my hatred for moving walkways in another post). In Denver these lazy-person-helpers run all up and down the airport, for what seems like a whole mile.

Side-note: Sometime during your next layover, sit where you can see the end of a moving walkway and watch people’s faces as they approach the end. Apparently moving walkways foster sheer terror from even the toughest of travelers. Keep a special eye out for women in heels.

Speaking of traveling in heels…why? Why would one make the conscious decisions to cause an already cramped, tiring, and uncomfortable experience to be even worse? Some women don’t even stop at heels. I have seen enough pencil skirts to stock five Banana Republics. I feel so badly that they have to sit on a plane with their legs crossed that particularly obnoxious way in order to stay modest. I mean we all know that it takes conscious effort to be modest in a normal skirt. Make it a pencil skirt and you’re done for.

I love airport bathrooms. Um…maybe that’s the wrong way of saying that. More specifically, I love to watch the women in bathrooms. Ok this is sounding super weird, stick with me! As many of us know, large bathrooms that you find in airports are often separated into sections: sinks, mirrors, and paper towels are on one side with the bathroom stalls on the other side. When I first walked in there were so many woman in the sink area that I thought I’d be waiting in line for at least ten minutes. But after further investigation on the other side of the wall I found that one stall was in use, leaving approximately 50 open. Why, you may ask? Women tend to dwell in areas with mirrors. Why it’s necessary to spend 10 minutes fixing your hair when you’re going to spend the next few hours crammed on an airplane is beyond me. Let’s just say I didn’t have to wait in line for the bathroom, but I had to wait in line for a sink, which was conveniently located directly below a mirror.

Denver has a fantastic mini mall in the middle of it. There are lots of fun stores that have all the Colorado things you could ever need. After browsing one of the gift shops, I discovered that I have a love for Native American jewelry. Those rocks sure are pretty…I thoroughly enjoyed my exploration of this miniature shopping extravaganza, although my fun came to an abrupt halt when I ran into some of the most realistic mannequins I’ve ever seen. And I say “ran into” in the most literal sense. I almost wet my pants I was so scared, just the recollection is making me shiver. I hate mannequins.

Essentially what I’ve discovered on my adventures is that every individual is so incredibly different. We all come from different walks of life that have molded us into who we are. If I had the time I would ask people to tell me their stories: why they are here, where they are going, where they are coming from, why they are going where they are going. You know...all that jazz. Unfortunately this would probably be socially unacceptable, so I’ll refrain. Just people-watching will have to suffice for now!