Does flying stress you out?

One-half of this blog becomes very irate and confused when exposed to airports and/or airport culture - CNN's The Situation Room, Skymall Magazine, pre-recorded messages telling you never to accept and transport packages from strangers (as if that's something you would do anyway?), etc. Not to mention that the half of this blog in question is much taller than the person airlines had in mind when designing their freakishly small interiors. And don't even get him started about the apparent ban on delicious peanuts - the only part of air travel that he genuinely liked.

Stressful! And yet, within the MSP Aiport there is a beacon of hope. Many beacons, really - each staffed by one or more cheerful volunteers wearing snazzy blue vests. Yes, the volunteers from the Airport Foundation are here to answer questions, calm fears, and more! The 250+ volunteers who make up this elite team come from many walks of life - from high school students to retired air traffic controllers - but they all have one thing in common: they love to help people!

The half of this blog who hates airports was very grateful to the Volunteer who helped him find his United Airlines Gate (note to readers: Concourse E - you won't find your United flights on any of the monitors because they don't want you to find it). Airport Foundation volunteers are never very far away if you're lost, looking for a specific restaurant or store, unable to communicate with airport staff (they have a phone-in translation service at their fingertips!), or your service dog requires a much-needed bathroom break.

The Airport Foundation asks that volunteers make a commitment of at least 4 hours per week. Interested? Check out their website!

***

Later on his trip, one half of this blog was stuck overnight in Cleveland, where there were no helpful volunteers to be found. However, he did find wild sparrows running all over the place!

Now, we're not saying that the Airport Foundation Volunteers are directly responsible for the lack of wildlife inside MSP, but we think that the coincidence is worth noting. C'mon, Cleveland...get on the ball.

The worst part was watching them budge to the front of the line with their first-class tickets