Connecting Lives

Last week I needed to spend the night at the airport before heading out of London. I grew up watching The Amazing Race and watching teams globe-trot from country to country, and I had always wondered how it'd be like to be in their shoes. Spending a night at the airport was an experience that made me feel secretly inside that I'm kinda going on an Amazing Race of my own *small imaginary cheers* It's isn't my first time camping at the airport at night, but this time I decided to journal down what I saw and thought, to capture some memories of what happened at this place, that night. It's going to be disorganized, jumbled, but here they are here's what I wrote there and then.

 

So I'm at Gatwick airport now. It's a much better place than Heathrow to spend the night at!

Thank God for letting the stomach discomfort from the bus ride just now subside. I am feeling much better :)

Amanda and I are being "hobos" for real (on second thoughts I don't think I should have said this, reading it again makes me feel insensitive to what the term really implies and trivializes its actual meaning). The airport is cold and thankfully I brought my down jacket along to feel warmer. If it is this cold at the airport already, it must be really, really cold for the people who spend their nights on the London streets. And there are many of them.

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(drifted off to light sleep and typed the following after waking up)

Through my semi-consciousness just now I could hear people talking. Two men made friends with each other! They were sharing with each other about their lives and all. Asking about religion "do you pray a lot? Five times a day?" And letting each other know more about themselves "I have two sons. One thirty-___ and another thirty-___ (couldn't hear for sure). I have two daughters (goes on to say age)". Cool. I think I heard Mandarin being spoken faintly in the background too. And there is definitely a family with kids around somewhere.

There was a constant sound of something being slapped on the airport chairs. When I peered through the scarf that I draped across my face (which I realized helped so much in keeping my face warm AND helping to block out the light) I realized that it was the airport cleaning staff dusting the airport chairs. The chairs are really clean here. Credit must go to them! I just hope I'm not upsetting their effort too much by making the chairs my bed for the night.

The escalator is whirring in the background too. Along with light music coming from the 24-hour Costa coffee outlet (awesome!) And there is the occasional luggage being dragged across the floor. I feel... safe, for now.

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"Very nice meeting you by the way! (handshake) Maybe I'll never see you again." (smiles)

And off he goes he pulls his trolley luggage along with him and heads to the escalators to the check-in counters.

Many things happening here in these few paragraphs but the one thing that stood out to me was the simple friendship formed - the birth of a simple friendship just like that (Amanda told me after that that the conversation started when Man A wanted to charge his phone and went over to the power plug where Man B was sitting), and yes the conversation developed right there at the airport chairs. And as I type this out I am reminded of Changi Airport Group's vision - Exceptional people, connecting lives. This vision of theirs stuck with me when I went for one of the company's events earlier on this year, and offered me a different perspective of how to view work at the airport, or work in general.

A few years back when I was very clueless about what I wanted to do next time and wondering about the possible career options out there, I wondered what the point of working at the airport would be, and if I were to be working at the airport, what would add meaning to work there, especially at Changi Airport, known for always striving for excellence. What would make me want to work for them and put in my best, which would ultimately probably just translate into raking in more profits for the company?

Then at the CAG event I was given an answer, one that I could and would personally identify with, and which was conveyed through their vision. Understanding CAG's vision helped me view the airport as not just a location with facilities for commercial aviation flights to take off and land – but also a place where people can experience abundant joy at the arrival halls from reconnecting after a long time, or bittersweet pangs and reluctance to part at departure halls, or one where friendships can form through random, shared encounters, and yup it rightly connects lives. And so if I were to work there, I would find meaning in doing so, because I know I would be helping to build a place where millions of people pass through, and one where some of the most precious moments can take place.

And on a broader, slightly unrelated level, I guess for work, and also life in general, perhaps we've got to find our own reasons that would make us and drive us to want to work, and likewise live as meaningfully as possible. I hope I'm on my way to finding it!