I'm Stuck at the Memphis Airport - What Can I Do While I Wait?

I've been stuck in Washington DC's Ronald Reagan, Detroit, Michigan, Kona, Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Malpenza, Italy, Meridian, Mississippi, Atlanta, Georgia, San Jose, California, San Fransisco, California, Newark, New Jersey, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Brussels and New York's JFK.

If I had a choice of airports to be stuck in or not stuck in, I would definitely choose not to be stuck in Meridian or Kona not because they're unfriendly, but because they're so small that there's nothing to do in them, even the food comes out of a vending machine in Meridian. Honolulu may not be small but their airline terminals
don't have much to offer unless all you want to do is walk. The shops are far apart.

I'd also not choose to be stuck in Detroit, JFK, Malpenza, Ronald Reagan or Atlanta because they're not friendly and don't consider the passenger's safety to be all that important. They forget who's dime makes their jobs possible. In fact I have such an aversion to Atlanta, I limit my doses of that airport to two times a year, and no more, because I'm just not that into being lost on a regular basis and being treated like a nuisance on top of it.

Now, if I could choose the airports I would want to be stuck in, I would choose Milwaukee, Newark, San Jose and Minneapolis for their friendly, open and very helpful people. I'd also choose Newark and Minneapolis for their shopping. I like Phoenix and Houston, also for their shopping. Please understand, if I select an airport due to its shopping, that's because it has nice, unique, reasonable and plentiful shops and merchandise to choose from.

I would also not mind being stuck in Amsterdam again as long as it's not on a plane. This airport is a major hub for east-west and north-south travel. It's a truly huge shopping mall with such a wide variety of wares and shops to choose from. Most of the people are friendly and helpful as long as politics don't get in the way. There's also a very wide array of nations that go through that airport everyday, many in their native dress and speaking in their own language.

Brussels is more polite than Amsterdam. But they're also a decent airport to be stuck in. They have a nice wide variety of shops and cafes and the people are very nice even with differing politics. Also, in Europe the wait-staff expect their customers to linger over their drinks, which would be the only item they'd order.

But the airport I'm going to choose for this article, is Memphis, Tennessee. Why? Because it has such a special flavor.

People Watching:

It's just fun sitting and watching the passengers walking around in their unique and very nice attire. A lot of them appear to have just walked off of a movie set for the rich and famous or from off the stage from a gig with their band, but with the manners and behavior of down-home country folk among their very welcome friends.

Conversation With Your Neighbor:

The people are friendly and open to striking up a conversation with a stranger. I've had a lot of nice and helpful conversations with the people in the shops and with fellow passengers. The people I met were laid back and taking life at a different pace than most of the other places I've been in. Remember, I do live in the South
and have traveled throughout most of the South. I've also gone into Tennessee by vehicle. That attitude isn't just at the airport.

Tennessee is just in a different state of mind than the rest of us. It reminds me of a time when this country still had the little corner variety dry goods store, when no one thought anything of walking down the road barefoot and people worked close to home or on the farm because everything went at a slower pace than now.

Walking Around the Terminal Area:

Not all people will find this attractive. But I grew up on a farm, so the curving road with the future just around the next bend has always been a big draw for me. The different concourses in the Memphis Airport curve around and up and down just like a country road which makes it fun just to walk around to see what's around
the next curve. It's not just the curving walkway, it's also the attractiveness of the way the place has been furnished.

Have a Meal:

I make it a habit not to buy food in the airport, except for a Starbuck's coffee. In fact that's the only place I do have Starbuck's coffee. Otherwise, I'm just not going to pay airport prices. I bring my own. I've made it a habit to carry extra nonperishable food in my briefcase, in case I'm going to need it. But for those of you who do buy food at the airport, Memphis has plenty of different kinds of food establishments that serve different foods such as subs, pizza, hamburgers, Starbucks, bagels, BBQ, pasta, fried chicken, ice cream as well as other cafes and restaurants.

Shopping:

Memphis has a wide variety of shopping from the typical airport shops, such as CNBC, Booksellers and Hudson News which I've been in across this country, to such locally unique places as the Elvis Gift Shop, River City Travel Mart, Kids Zoo Gift Shop and Rock and Soul Store. The last time I was there I got some special gifts.

Watch TV:

Somewhere there seems to be a universal blueprint for most of the larger mainland airports which includes the mandatory TV tuned only to CNN. When some of the biggest stories broke in this country in the past few years, I was in some airport finding out about it from CNN on the airport TV. Memphis also has this phenomenon.

Note: Customs:

Now this is not something you do when you're stuck in an airport. But I would suggest that if you're going on a trip that requires coming back through customs I would highly recommend routing through Memphis's customs. They don't leave their hospitality at the time clock. They bring it with them on the job. I was so shocked at how decently and kindly I was treated. I'd just assumed that I'd need to cringe through the entire process. Instead I was charmed right through an event that wasn't just painless but actually pleasurable. Which would usually be considered a contradiction in terms considering I'm talking about customs. But then this is Memphis and they
do defy the usual, the expected or the typical.

Sources:

http://www.ifly.com/us-airports

http://www.ifly.com/memphis-international-airport/terminal-map

http://www.ifly.com/world-airports