Ever wonder who passes through an airport?

A million years ago while on active duty in the Marines, I was sent to Osan Air Base in S. Korea on a rescue mission to repair one of our Skyhawks that was unable to get home. My supervisor told me to repair the jet and take 2-3 days of liberty before returning to Okinawa. SWEET!

I got there, repaired the jet and went over to get a room on base only to discover they had no room for me. I head off base and discover all the hotels within 20km are full. I had no idea there was a large multi-service military exercise underway. With nowhere to go, I went back to the military air terminal. I reserved a spot on the next available C-130...leaving in 18hrs and resigned myself to sleeping on the floor in the terminal. As I'm walking through the terminal I hear someone yelling my name. I ignored it. I mean it can't be me, I'm very far from home and who would be here that knows me? After hearing my name called multiple times, I feel someone grab my arm. I turned and saw a girl that I used to date when I was home in SoCal. Turns out she disappeared because she joined the USAF. Long story short, I canceled the reservation and had a place to stay for a few days. I didn't end up seeing much of South Korea over the next three days.

There's a Popeye's down the street from me.  I ate there once and wasn't impressed, when it comes to fast food chicken I'd rather go to KFC.

As far as airport food goes, it seems the trend these days is to have more and more exotic and unusual fare; when I'm waiting in between planes I don't need to have a fine culinary experience, I just want some regular food that's served quickly and tastes decent.

I was an airline pilot for a while and I'd wander the terminals when we'd get a break. I met BB King and talked airplanes with George HW Bush, had William Shatner, Mickey Dolenz, and Britney Spears on my plane at different times. I shared an elevator in Akron, Ohio with Joe Walsh. As a corporate pilot I met the Pettys and a bunch of other NASCAR drivers, Henry Kissinger, a couple of members of Fleetwood Mac, among others. 

Supercross champion Ryan Dungey at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul airport and FMX rider Tommy Clowers at the Philadelphia airport. Odd that the only two "celebrities" that I've crossed paths with at airports were both moto guys. 
 

I gave Ryan just the slightest nod to acknowledge that I recognized him and kept moving on my way. I sat next to Tommy for 20 minutes without looking over and realizing it was him. I just gave him a quick hello and didn't bother him further. 

I volunteered to be a corner worker at COTA for a MOTOGP race and when waiting for our flight back home my friend and I saw several of the top riders.

I haven't thought too much about it in airports, but I always think about it at the DMV.

Everybody has to get their driver's license renewed at some point, right?

Colin Wood said:

J.A. Ackley said:

Do you think of these things?

To this point, my answer is yes. All the time.

Airport or not, I can't help but look at the other people around me and wonder what their life is like–where are they going? Where are they coming from? What are their friends and family like? Are they at a high point in their life or a low point?

And that's not even considering there are entire countries I'll likely never visit full of people I'll likely never meet living their own lives.

Never have. But I used to do airport shuttle runs. I'd pick up bigwigs for my employer, and it got me to pondering how you could be such a big deal in your own circle -- to include anything from a restaurant chain, to FoMoCo, to even politics in entire countries -- but anyone outside of the club/context could have zero idea who you are, and all derived status would be irrelevant. 

I used to live in L.A. so seeing recognizable faces at the airport was not common, but no surprising either.

Tim Roth was my seat-mate on a flight out of Burbank once.  I flew with Sly Stallone on a flight to Vegas, but he was in first class and I was clear in the back.

I do often wonder if I sat in the same seat at the Applebees or Au Bon Pain as celebs did when I visit their hometown airports... Harry Connick Jr at MSY, Mandy Patinkin at O'Hare, or Kareem Abdul Jabbar at JFK.

When I first moved to L.A. I visted the Hawthorne diner where they filmed the big scene in Pulp Fiction.  I had to sit in the same booth, of course, but the booths were upholstered in light blue, so I knew I wasn't sitting where Samuel L Jackson graced his backside.  That place has since been demolished.

My coolest airport experience was coming home from Ontario CA where I had to connect to Denver.   In the airport in Ontario, I commented on the dude in front of me's MazdaTrix jacket, and said something like "Nice jacket!  Those guys have taken WAY too much of my money!"  Turns out it was Dave Lemon, owner/founder of MazdaTrix, and we were in the same isle.   He was window, I was isle.   We chatted rotaries and racing all the way onto the plane, then, after a few minutes of trying not to chat through the person in the middle seat, we ended up swapping and chatting all the way to Denver.    Cool dude. 

I spotted Conrad Bain and said hello to him.  Afterwards, my wife said who the hell is Conrad Bain

It's been years since I read this, and I have no idea how I would confirm it, but IIRC John Le Carré once said that he had seen at Heathrow someone who looked exactly the way he imagined George Smiley.

I think that would be a little weird for an author.

Years ago I was flying out of Orange County and saw John Wayne.

He didn't have much to say...

In reply to David S. Wallens :

Tony Hawk's Twitter feed all by itself is almost enough to make it worth joining.

wawazat said:

I spotted Conrad Bain and said hello to him.  Afterwards, my wife said who the hell is Conrad Bain

What you talkin bout? 

Hartsfield is my home airport.  As insane as it is, the nice thing about it is I can get anywhere cheap and nonstop.  I fly 25-30 round trips per year, so it's a big deal.  

Many years ago I saw some WWE people in the Tampa airport.  I honestly don't remember their names as I stopped following it around 1988.  However one of the dudes was at least 7' tall and 400lbs.  Probably the largest human being I've personally seen.

I also spotted Steve Aoki in the Mexico City airport.  I had no idea who he was but he had a huge entourage and people kept approaching only to be kept at a distance by his crew.  Found out who he was about a year later.  

I also spotted Steve Aoki in the Mexico City airport.  I had no idea who he was but he had a huge entourage and people kept approaching only to be kept at a distance by his crew.  Found out who he was about a year later.  

The mention of pro wrestlers reminds me:  one time I was flying from Minneapolis to Charlotte, NC when Ric Flair got on the plane.  This was back in the days when pro wrestling was all regional, and he was working in the AWA territory in the Minnesota area and the Mid-Atlantic territory in North Carolina.  There were obviously two different story lines going on, since he was limping and wearing a neck brace when he got on the plane but the limp and the brace were gone when we arrived.

Apparently Mr. Ackley were at the same airport at the same time yesterday.

Only "celebrity" I've ever seen at the airport was some self-important pretty boy. I sat across from him waiting for a flight at Burbank, it was only afterwards that my wife informed me that he used to be a judge on one of the reality dancing shows

wawazat said:

I spotted Conrad Bain and said hello to him.  Afterwards, my wife said who the hell is Conrad Bain

His son owned Automotive Restorations in Stratford until a few years ago. I went to a GRM related event there. It's a very high end shop.

calteg said:

Apparently Mr. Ackley were at the same airport at the same time yesterday.

Only "celebrity" I've ever seen at the airport was some self-important pretty boy. I sat across from him waiting for a flight at Burbank, it was only afterwards that my wife informed me that he used to be a judge on one of the reality dancing shows

Woah! Hey, next time we got to say hello, although ATL is HUGE, but easy to navigate compared to other mega airports.

I've yet to notice a celeb at an airport, but I have run into a friend or two while flying. Finally got back home on Thursday.

The flight from BOS to DFW to SNA (changed to LAX) was hectic. Left the hotel at 630 a.m. Eastern ... Got to my hotel a 330 a.m. Eastern. Luggage didn't follow me. I felt a bit run down since then, but I'm recovering now and catching up with the world.