Observation in an Airport

Recently, I was in the Boston Logan International Airport and I saw something that I had not seen before:  several white rocking chairs lined up and looking out the windows.  At first they seemed out of place because all of the other furniture is black and silver and very modern.  Every chair was taken and there was almost a waiting line for the chairs.

It made me think about what is the message.  Why were these chair here and why were they so popular?  It it to make us slow down and take time to "smell the roses?"  It is that rocking chairs are more relaxing?  Do they remind us of times when people would gather on their porches and just talk with one another while swinging in a porch swing?

My grandmother had a porch swing that was long enough to fit four kids.  We would swing for hours, laughing, talking, and seeing how high we could go.  It struck me as so interesting to see these chairs.

So I struck up a conversation with the man rocking next to me.  Within fifteen minutes, I knew his whole life story and felt a connection.  I even felt sad as I had to leave before he did.  While I realize it is safe confiding in someone you don't know and will probably never see again, I also thought about how important it is to have a person listen to your story.

Comments

[Alison Kuker]

Dr. Freed,

That is very odd to have rocking chairs at an airport! While it is a good "stop and smell the roses" mechanism, I still don't think many people would find it relaxing to watch a bunch of planes land and take off. However, I find airports to be very stressful places because whenever I'm in one, I find myself rushed and worried that my carry-on is going to have some recently-banned item that I didn't even know about and they won't let me on the plane! So even if watching planes isn't exactly relaxing, maybe just sitting and taking a minute to compose yourself is a good idea.

ALISON

[Jann Freed]

Alison--Recently I was in another airport where there were also rocking chairs so I think it is becoming more common. I think the purpose is to help people SLOW DOWN and relax maybe similar to park benches. What are some other signs to get people to slow down in public?