Walking in the Valley A weekly column for those who live and walk in Silicon Valley by Barbara Dahlgren

Coffee, Tea, or CPR Column for the week of August 17-23, 2003

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Flying the friendly skies is not for the faint of heart anymore. We found that out last weekend at one of the Bay Area airport terminals on our way to Seattle. Those new electronic check-in gizmos are nifty if you just have carry on luggage. We checked in and got our boarding pass in no time flat. Our departure gate was #17. We found the Gates #1–27 sign and were on our way.

Walk to the first checkpoint. Show ID. Show boarding pass. Walk to second check point. Show ID. Show boarding pass. Put luggage on conveyer belt. Empty pockets. Take off shoes. Take off watch. Send everything through x-ray machine. Walk through metal detector. Pick up luggage. Put on shoes. Put on watch. Put stuff back in pockets. Look for arrow pointing to gates. Think to self, “Gate 17, hmmm that doesn’t sound too bad. Should be right in the middle. Oh, look! There’s Gate 27. They must be numbered from the highest to lowest. That’s even better.”

Walk, walk, walk. Pass Gate 27. Walk, walk, walk. Pass Burger King. Walk, walk. Pass newsstand. Pass phones. Walk, walk. Pass Gates 26 and 25. Walk, walk, walk. Pass gift shop. Pass Starbucks. Walk, walk. Pass burrito stand. Walk, walk. Pass Gates 24, and 23. Walk, walk, walk. Pass pub like place. Pass restroom. Pass Gate 22. Walk, walk. Pass Gates 21 and 20. Walk, walk. Pass pizza place. Walk, walk. Pass smoothie shop. Pass gates 19 and 18. Walk, walk. Pass gift shop. Huff. Puff. Step on moving walkway. Opt not to stand but walk on moving walkway to push on because Gate 17 is next. Step off moving walkway. Walk, walk, walk, walk down long corridor. Envy old person passing you in motorized cart. Walk, walk, walk around bend. Thank God for person who thought of putting wheels and pull up handle on luggage. Walk, walk, walk. Stop! Stand in shock as you see next gate is #1.

What? Number one? What idiot lays out a floor plan, starts counting backwards, and in the middle starts counting forward? How deceitful! How misleading! I should buy a cup of coffee and spill it on myself and sue. By the time we reached Gate # 17 (we recognized it because it was the VERY last gate and we could go no farther) we wondered if we were going to fly to WA or if they were just pointing us in the right direction and making us walk there. They must have all those places to eat along the way for sustenance so you can keep walking. They don’t want you at the airport two hours early for security purposes but because it takes that long to get to your gate.

Now what can I learn from this? Never give up? Persevere? The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step? Be sure someone can count from 1 to 27 before you hire him? If we reword a couple of scriptures they can apply. For example Hebrews 12:1 “Let us run with patience the race set before us” can become “Let us walk with patience for the gates that are set before us.” Philippians 3:14 “I press on toward the goal to win the prize” can be “I press on toward the gate to be able to fly.” And I found a couple of dandy quotes. Nietzche said, “All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking.” Well, my thoughts weren’t too great. My favorite is by Abe Lincoln, “I am a slow walker but I never walk backwards.” That Abe sure had some pithy sayings.

Those are all good lessons but what I really learned is that you need to be physically fit if you are going to fly anywhere. In a couple of weeks we are scheduled to fly to Detroit. (I sure hope they get that little power outage thing taken care of). So please excuse me while I go join the nearest fitness center. I only have 14 days to get into shape for my next Golden Gate marathon. After all, I don’t want some stewardess looking down at my collapsed body and sweetly asking, “Coffee? Tea? C.P.R.?”

©August 2003

Be sure to visit this page every week to read the next edition of Walking in the Valley. You can write to the author at bdahlgren@wcgsouthbay.org.