Feb 12 Culture Shock

Indy to Newark

The Indianapolis airport terminal, not the definition of beautiful, made especially more ugly by the 1/4 mile line I'm standing in to go through security. This place seems like it was designed to be dull; large bulky gray machines, the constant hum of a dozen conveyor belts, the lazy gaze of a security guard on the 8th hour of his shift, and the hundreds of people standing in line to get felt up proved this observation. Then I sat and waited for 2 hours as announcements poured out of the loud speakers alerting me that my flight was being delayed and they're sorry for the inconvenience. Well they didn't have to be sorry, because according to their website this is what I paid for: long lines, delayed flights, and uncomfortably small airline chairs with zero leg room. If it wasn't for the bag of peanuts and that can of soda, it would have been 'no deal.'
Part of me was hoping that Newark would be a little better than Indianapolis as far as their standards for airport terminals was concerned. Well, I guess it's not fair to compare because it's always more frustrating to fly out than it is to fly in. So far I only had to wait in one line, and that's because the stupid baggage claim machine was holding my luggage hostage! I swear I saw the same red-trimmed suitcase 4 times before I even saw mine once!
Finally out of airport land, a cab drove us to downtown Jersey City, just 2 stone throws away from the Hudson, and maybe a dozen more stone throws from Manhattan. This was so exciting, even though all I'd seen of Jersey so far was from the interior of an airport taxi cab. Stepping out of the cab, I was blown off my feet. I was standing on the curb of a narrow street with apartment facades flanking it, and straight down the street I could see a perfectly framed view of downtown Manhattan. Amazing.