Tales of Terminal A

So as you already know from reading my older posts (and if you haven’t read them, what are you waiting for?) I work in a bookstore at Boston’s Logan International Airport. Logan employs 1000’s of people and even then, it’s small, compared to other international airports in the USA.

People are so intrigued. They want to know what it’s like to work beyond security. 3 most often asked questions:

1)     Do you have to go through the security line every day?

Yes. Sometimes more than once a day.  But as employees we can cut the line. Because if we have to wait behind all the people who don’t have a clue, we will be seriously late for work. And we don’t go thru the body scanner. Just the metal detector.

2)     Do you have to remove your shoes?

No, unless they set off the metal detector. That’s why most of us wear really ugly, but comfortable shoes.

3)     Do you get flight discounts?

          Are you kidding?

The one perk we do get is a really good understanding of how flights work, which day is the best day is to fly and which airlines tend to have LOTS and LOTS of delays.

People also want to know how I GET to the airport. Well, we have an employee garage. Fortunately my company pays my garage fee. Then we take an employee shuttle bus to our terminals. My terminal is A. First stop. I used to work in E. Last stop. Normally the shuttle takes less than 10 minutes. Right now, actually the last  2+ years there has been construction. So now it takes up to a half hour or more. In rush hour, my commute is pretty much an hour door to door. One really great thing about the garage is that when I travel, I can leave my car there. Safe and sound and free of charge.

My bookstore is located post security. It’s a small but very, very complete little shop. Obviously we can’t carry every title ever published, but we generally have what most people are looking for. For the most part, people come in, find what they need, pay and leave. Of course at least 3 to 5 times a day we’ll get the “entitled” customer. Oh, the stories I could tell. These are the first class passengers who truly believe that we are there to serve them. Excuse me. I’m there to sell, not serve. One of my colleagues actually had a customer ask where the “penguin” section was.  A few days ago a customer wanted an “insert” for his book? An INSERT?? You know, something to keep the place in the book. When I told him he could use his receipt or purchase one of our many bookmarks, he said oh, what a disappointment. Then he proceeded to exclaim, “Where is my luggage?” to which I replied, “Sorry, can’t help you with that one.” 

In all American airports passengers are told to stay with their luggage at all times. Several times a day we find a random carry-on sitting in the middle of the store. Most times we just ask, who belongs to this and the customer will retrieve it.  There have been times when we’ve had to call the State Police. Left bags are a big no-no. How people can walk off without their carry-on is beyond me.

Retail is retail. I’ve worked 2 other bookstores NOT in the airport. Basically it’s the same. Customer service. Knowledge of books and inventory. Same old, same old. The major difference in airport retail is that everything depends on the flight schedule. All the stores open at a scheduled time. When we close is another story. We are instructed to close when the last flight boards. That would be approximately 1/2  hour before that flight departs. Of course there are flight delays. Lots of them. So when my friends ask me what time I close the store at night I can only shrug. Last flight was scheduled for 7:30 PM. Now delayed until 9:40. Not going home anytime soon. We study the flight board religiously. At least once an hour. It’s our bible.

I really like working in the airport. Aside from the handful of annoying people, it really is a fun place to be. I love my cute store and the people I work with. We are a little family and we look out for one another.

So next time you’re flying through Logan’s terminal A, do stop by to say hi. Spend some time. Browse. And don’t forget to take your carry-on when you leave! :)