Heathrow, gateway to London.
Stopover for other places.
All over the world.
Europe.
Asia.
United States.
Scandinavia.
Bustling.
Congested.
Airplanes lined up on runways.
People in terminals.
Dodging other travelers.
Carts, wheelchairs, bags.
Assaulted by clanging, banging, crinkling.
Bombarded by smells, breakfast to supper.
Assailed by flashing lights.
Information signs, shops, billboards.
I know the airport from previous layovers.
So I was surprised.
Disconcerted.
Curious.
When our giant Boeing 777 dispatched us.
Not to a jetway.
But to steep stairs.
Leading to a passenger vehicle.
To ferry us to the international terminal.
It was hard to know why British Air,
cosmopolitan plus,
would meet us on the airfield
with an overcrowded bus.
Lynn Benjamin
July 4, 2023
