I flew on April 26, 2020. It was the first time in over a month and a half that I was in an airport and it was spooky.
Leading up to the flight I pulled together a bunch of items to take precautions… masks, gloves, wipes, hand sanitizer. I didn’t check luggage and just had a backpack as a carryon and I kept that in a transparent plastic bag for the whole trip.
The TSA guy furrowed his brow when he saw my bag in a clear bag. I don’t know if it made much of a difference, and I didn’t see anybody else doing it.
The stores and restaurants in the airports were closed and blocked off. People at the few active gates were wearing a variety of masks. Most of them, at least.
It felt like an episode of Black Mirror. A bit too much.
But some things hadn’t changed and brought me a sort of familiar aggravation. There were people in later boarding groups crowding around the gate to create a human wall. And after we landed clowns rushed to the front with no attempt at social distancing.
I will be flying again in a week and it’s reassuring that airlines are taking more precautions now with some not selling middle seats and mandating masks for passengers.
Also, I am taking even more measures to be safe this time around, including the addition of a face shield to go with my coronavirus homemade mohawk. My “look” should help to keep people maintaining social distance from me.
