Assignment #3 [Due: 1/31]

I do think that anyone who has ever been in an airplane as well as an airport can relate to this story in some sense. Airports can be OVERWHELMINGLY stressful. It's safe to say we've all had some sort of bad luck in that department whether it be arguing with our family, losing our bags, being on a tight schedule, or having a delay.

I found humor in Sedaris mocking the people that he was writing about because I too have done that92750. My sister and I would enjoy getting to the airport earlier when we were younger just to "people creep" and see some of the things that people did, wore, and said. It was utterly fascinating at times the things that we encountered.

We often catch ourselves thinking things about the people we see and judging them without knowing them. The critiquing of everyone in sight was filled with quite an interesting amount of adjectives(276). Although we think some pretty rude things from time to time most of us have some sort of filter where we can judge what should and should not be said. That doesn't quite seem to be the case for the group with the "Freaky Mothafocka" tee shirt. As if the teeshirt logo section wasn't enough the woman's comments about "The only ones having babies are the ones who shouldn't be having" sort of took the cake on that one.

I really like the ending of this article how he brings in the theory and makes us really think that maybe deep down we truly are the monsters that we become in the airport. Maybe it is true to some extent that the airport with all its glorious chaos makes us truly embrace all of our personality and habits (both good and bad).

I think that Sedaris has a point to writing this article in the back of his head the whole time. Some people write hoping that their point will become more and more clear to not only the write but themselves throughout the writing. I think that Sedaris wrote this article to show us stories of people in the airport hoping that we not only see that they are outrageous but also seeing that we might have a good amount in common with those people. The writing was easy to relate to because we do encounter a lot of this stuff quite often- we just don't understand how truly ridiculous it is until someone else puts it into writing. I think that he hopes we will second guess ourselves and catch when we do these things. I know that I will be more cautious about it from now on.

I really like all of the fun stories and examples that Sedaris puts into his story. It makes it flow exceptionally well. Meanwhile it also pulled me in as a reader and kept me interested.



Questions:
1. Do you ever think people think these kind of things about you in the airport? Or have you done anything to make people think these things about you?

2. Do you talk with people/ think out loud while at the airport? or do you tend to keep to yourself?


Sedaris, David. "Standing By." First Year Composition Reader. Boston: Pearson, 2011. 275-277.
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