Ok, here’s another airport story, also from last Friday while waiting at Houston Intercontinental Airport to head for Chicago.

It’s been said that one important characteristic of a good writer is that (at least in theory!) we become more observant of the world around us. (Well, I’m sure somebody said it at least once.) After all, we’re always looking for something meaningful to write about, right? But why should only writers be good observers?

One of my favorite activities is the fascinating sport of people-watching. (What’s not to like? It’s non-contact, costs practically nothing, and can turn even the most boring afternoon into a veritable potporri of interesting sights and sounds.) Malls are wonderful places for this; airports are another - they always represent the most fascinating cross-section of people gathered into one place. I just love observing a variety of different people parade by because, let’s face it, people can be so amazingly different!

So, while waiting for my flight, within a few minutes I saw: serious folks, happy folks, contemplative folks; big ones, small ones, tall ones, short ones, old, young - I could fill this entire blog with all the possible combinations. And that’s not even considering nationalities, cultures, races, etc. Yep, people-watching can be so much fun, I think it could qualify to be an Olympic sport.

Speaking of which, there was this one cute little girl that caught my eye; I’m guessing she was probably about 4 or 5 years old. She was walking down the concourse with her parents, proudly carrying a big stuffed animal – a large, long-haired, black-and-white pony. In fact, it was absolutely HUGE - at least as big as she was; she could hardly see where she was going. (I wish I could show you a photo, but parents take a dim view of total strangers taking pictures of their children.)

It was very obvious she was pretty proud of that pony as she carried it through the airport; her little face was absolutely beaming as she struggled to carry the huge stuffed toy through the crowd. I’d be willing to bet it was a birthday present; at any rate, at the moment it was definitely the most important thing in her life.

But what what I found interesting was, as she and her parents made their way through the crowded concourse, almost none of the people passing her even seemed to notice. Even when they actually had to move out of her way to let her pass, they barely blinked. It was as if they were unconsciously avoiding an invisible bubble.

So what’s going on here?

OK, rather than degenerate this post into a rant about self-absorbed people (which would probably be the obvious direction), let’s think about it from a personal level.

Ironically enough, my friend Tariq Khan just wrote an article about this (great minds, you know) called When Amazing Becomes Too Familiar, You Should… In it, he describes how losing our sense of wonder can cause us to become so jaded that we can actually miss some pretty great stuff going on all around us. Take a moment to pop over and read it; I’ll wait.

About the only thing I would add is, whatever you choose to do in life, and whatever your passion – don’t miss what’s going on around you! Once it’s gone — it’s gone!