Atlanta airport

On way to San Diego (OK, Carlsbad, for those who care) California, I flew via Atlanta, GA airport. This is not normally an airport I fly though except when going to Florida, and it has been a while. This is a fairly new airport (maybe they built it for the Olympics 8 years ago, I don't know), and it has several peculiarities.

After eating lunch, I was walking to my gate I needed to attend to my biology, so to speak. No problem, just follow the signs. Well, I walk, and walk and walk down the terminal corridor, and the helpful signs gave up directing me. No bathroom! I turn around, and walk the 100 m back to where I had started. I go the other direction, and finally have to walk another 150m before a find a place. Do they really space their bathrooms 250 m apart?

Inside it was very clean, very modern, very new. And of course had a fancy sink with a "touchless" design. Two faucets, identical - one to the left, one to the right. Well, I want HOT water, so I select that one.

Green soap gets deposited onto my (dry) hands. Not what I wanted, and not my style. So, without thinking I go to the right. Yup, a gushing stream of cold water is deposited on my hands, what takes the dose of soap and splashes it onto my shirt. Really, I am not lying!

GRRR. I look at the taps - surely these should be labeled! Well, they were - when you hold your head just right with the light you can tell that "soap" and "water" (they didn't say cold) are etched into the shiny metal. A bit too subtle for me, I guess.


The rest of my bathroom experience went normally, I am happy to say.

Now back to the airport corridor. I bought a strawberry smoothie (only on business trips, I am always too cheap to pay for them myself). After drinking it, I throw it in one of the many shiny trash containers every 10 meters down the hall it seems (guess they figure more people throw out trash then go to the bathroom). No problem. I then stand nearby waiting in line to board my flight. Several minutes later, the garbage can I tossed my drink into starts making noise. They are electric trash cans! A light goes on, there is a whirring and crunching noise, the can burps (just kidding), and it becomes quiet and smiling again.


Next time I come back to this airport I think I'll bring a really heavy weight plastic bag, and fill it with some air!! Or bubble wrap. Or an aerosol can of, say shaving cream. THAT ought to be fun!

Speaking of such things, while I was standing in the luggage screening area in Rochester, I overheard a snippet of conversation - don't know how it turned out--

Screener person, sitting at the X-ray machine to traveler: "Hey, is that a football you have in your bag here?"


Passenger - "yup, you got it - bringing with with me to Florida to play on the beach!"

Screener - "Yeah, only one problem - we're going to have to cut it open, you know to see if anythings inside".

Passenger - "You gotta be kidding!"

Screener - chuckles..