Aren’t lists fun?
It seems like everywhere one turns these days while hurtling down the Internet highway a list can be found. One magazine might feature a list for “Best 50 Cities To Get A Bikini Wax” while another trumpets “Worst 100 Cities To Find A Guy Named Chi Chi.” A reader may begin wondering what is with all the lists? Did I miss some hip trend on the TV news or in the feature section of the newspaper? Is my name Chi Chi and am I wondering just what is a bikini wax? No.
No indeed. Lists are a relatively easy idea for some publication or the other. And we know how much we all love easy. They are fun sometimes though and can be informative.
As for a list I found today on CNN, I am not really sure where it falls. The list is of the 10 healthiest airports published by Health magazine.
When I looked at this list initially I said to myself: “WTF” (What the Fricassee?)This is because airports seem at first glance to be one of the unhealthiest places a person might find themselves. Airports are full of people, often crowded, which may be flying from practically any part of the globe and perhaps carrying every kind of exotic disease known to mankind. Airports are stressful, a heart attack waiting to happen for those who haven’t exercised since Warren G. Harding was president and now is forced to run the mile and a half to the concourse to catch the last flight to Bora Bora.
Nonetheless, Health looked at factors such as airports which contain restaurants serving healthy foods, relaxation zones, and being kid-friendly. Their list named Phoenix Sky Harbor International as No. 1 due to it being a “low-stress experience” for passengers and for serving healthy food such as veggie burritos.
It turns out that I flew in and out, in, or out, of five of the 10 airports. This includes Number 2, Baltimore-Washington International. It said the airport had “soft music and comfortable lighting” at a TSA security checkpoint which is designed to reduce stress. Perhaps I missed that checkpoint.
Chicago O’Hare came in Number 3 being praised for 90 percent of its airports serving “low-fat, fiber-rich, veggie-heavy meals.” The last time I flew to O’Hare was 30 years ago to catch a bus to Great Lakes Naval Station and boot camp. I remember one poor prospective boot being forced to do push-ups in the middle of the airport. Yeah, no stress there. The other healthy airports I have visited were No. 4, 6 and 7 respectively, Detroit, Ronald Reagan Washington National and Dallas Fort Worth International. I was only at Detroit a few minutes. I give National high marks for having a Metro subway station there. And I will say that DF-W has improved in a lot of respects since I first flew there just after it opened 30 years ago.
But healthy? Well, I just can’t vision any of these airports as being healthy. Nevertheless, the top 10 list gave me something to read and write about. And it’s inspired me to do my own top 10 list. Behold the Top 10 Sights One Does Not Want To See While Flying:
1. The ground from a vertical perspective
2. Another plane, up close and personal
3. The Wicked Witch of the West
4. The movie “Alive”
5. The pilot and crew wearing parachutes
6. Flying reindeer
7. Snakes on a plane
8. A mime troupe (I wouldn’t want to see one anywhere, to be honest)
9. A passenger wing-walking
10. Your luggage traveling in the opposite direction