SIGHTS
Automated glass doors entrances, a long open area leading to multiple airline check-in counters (featuring a luggage scale, monitor, ticket printouts, luggage tags and stickers, airline employees, passengers holding tickets and passports, and conveyer belts for checked luggage), snake-like queues filled with passengers carting luggage, e-ticket terminals, security personnel, airport staff, gates for different airlines (complete with company colors, uniformed staff, logos and monitors displaying information for each), signs from the ceiling directing passengers to different areas of the airport, baggage drop-off areas, restrooms, information desks, a baggage claim section, car rental kiosks, large digital monitors displaying flight departures and arrival times, tables with forms to be filled out (bag tags and pens, baggage forms, customs forms), instructions for carrying on luggage, janitorial employees pushing cleaning trolleys, vending machines, a security area (queued lines, uniformed agents with latex gloves, passengers removing their shoes, a conveyer belt and scanner, bins for pocket contents and purses, laptops sitting in their own bins, body scanners, handheld metal detectors), gate terminal areas with glass windows overlooking the tarmac (planes loading and unloading, luggage trains, ground crew), mass seating at each gate, electrical outlets where phones and laptops are being charged, wide halls with passengers pulling luggage, motorized carts to help disabled or limited-mobility passengers get around, kiosks selling merchandise, restaurants and small airport bars, smoking rooms, rentable Wi-Fi workstations with plug-ins and media hookups, desks at each gate (with personnel checking tickets, assigning seats, and calling missing passengers)
SOUNDS
Automated doors opening and closing, passenger names being called over the intercom, flight arrivals being announced, departure and delay announcements, luggage wheels rolling across the floor, parents telling their kids to keep up, attendants calling for the next customer in line, zippers opening and closing, soft luggage (duffels and backpacks) thumping against the ground, boots and high heels clicking against the floor, the ruffle of papers, e-tickets spitting out of a dispenser, stamps on paperwork, quiet conversation, waiting passengers (making phone calls, clearing their throats, shifting, and making small talk to others in line), the crackle of a security officer’s radio, conversations overheard in foreign languages
SMELLS
Coffee, hair products, cologne, perfume, mints or mouthwash, paper, metal, cleaning products, baked goods or hot food from the food court, sweat, bad breath, plastic, rubber
TASTES
Coffee, water, mints, gum, vending machine snacks, easy baked goods (bagels, muffins, wraps, cookies), food bought from a vendor
TEXTURES AND SENSATIONS
Sitting on a hard suitcase during a long wait in line, bumping into other people, a luggage wheel running over one’s foot, the rough fabric of the strap that forms a queue, shifting a bag from one shoulder to the other to relieve pressure, slick boarding passes that have just been printed, a compact passport book, rolling the neck and shoulders to ward off stiffness, craning the neck to read directional signs, tugging a zipper on an overstuffed bag, the firm skim of a security agent’s hand over one’s body during a routine in-person check, squirming in an uncomfortable seat at one’s gate, the heat of coffee in one’s hand, resting a foot on one’s luggage, travel fatigue setting in as one waits for the last leg of a trip to begin
POSSIBLE SOURCES OF CONFLICT
Misreading the flight’s departure time and arriving late
Getting lost in a large airport
Feeling intimidated or fearful because one is travelling alone for the first time
Theft
Realizing one has lost something of importance (money, credit cards, a passport)
Having one’s flight canceled or overbooked
Bad weather grounding all flights
Getting caught with something in one’s luggage that isn’t allowed (drugs, weapons, meat, excessive cash)
PEOPLE COMMONLY FOUND HERE
Administrative workers, delivery people, flight crews and airline support staff, ground and baggage crews, maintenance and janitorial staff, police and onsite paramedics, security personnel, travelers
RELATED SETTINGS THAT MAY TIE IN WITH THIS ONE
Airplane, casual dining restaurant, cheap motel, fast food restaurant, hotel room, public restroom, taxi
SETTING NOTES AND TIPS
Airports vary in size. While many are large and sprawling and require shuttles or trains to get to different terminals, ones located in smaller towns will have minimal amenities; some may not even have proper gate areas. In many parts of the world, passengers go outside the terminal to board the plane using a removable staircase rather than travel through an attached hallway. Security will also be run differently around the world, with the airport adhering to the rules and regulations of that country.
SETTING DESCRIPTION EXAMPLE
I shuffled exactly half a step as the ridiculously long American Airlines queue finally moved. This was the real reason they told you to come hours early for each flight—so you could stand around waiting to check your bag. Over at the Korea Air counter, passengers flew through the line like prunes through an eighty-year-old’s digestive system. Maybe it was time to switch carriers for these long-haul flights.
Techniques and Devices Used: Contrast, simile
Resulting Effects: Reinforcing emotion