Travelin' in the USA

Many years ago my wife and I had overseas assignments, posted in Vienna, Austria. While there, we had the opportunity to travel with the United Nations Russian Club to several locations within the USSR. The trip was a wonderfully enjoyable experience through which we gained a first-hand taste of life in Russia. With our accommodations, visits with dignitaries, and special travel arrangements, I'm sure we saw things through tinted lenses.

One area that was difficut to cover up, however, were the trips through the Moscow airport. The tight security was definitely a change from my prior experiences. The extreme crowding in the airport remains a strong memory. People were packed in, milling about, sitting on the floor: a situation I had not seen before and had not since.

Had not since - until my last trip through the Atlanta airport on July 31, 2008. There were people everywhere. At the gate from which I was to fly out, three planes were scheduled to be at the gate within minutes of each other. Because of the stack-up, there were passengers waiting to board all three planes. Since my planes in Atlanta almost always seem to arrive very near the end of D concourse and depart from very near the end of B concourse, I get to see quite a few gates. They all seemed to be as crowded as mine - people packed in, milling about, sitting on the floor. The similarity of this experience to one I had 25 years ago was enough to bring the old memory back to the surface.

I didn't think I would ever begin comparing life in the USSR to life in the USA, but that is exactly what this experience did for me. In a week when the news had been full of stories about failing cranes, decrepit bridges, and overloaded flight systems, my experience at the Atlanta airport provided me with a personal experience of what appears to be the general decline of American infrastructure.

July 31st did happen to be a bad day for travel with storms affecting much of the US. However, my extended stay in ATL gave me plenty of opportunities to discuss recent travel with other passengers. The impression I got from their stories was that delays had become expected; for example, even a two-hour layover is not enough to guarantee that you will make your connecting flight.

One data point doesn't prove a theory, but I'd much prefer not to have any corroborating data points and to have hassle-free travel from now on. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that to expect that would leave me disappointed. The downward slope looks pretty real.