Posted by Allan M. on July 29, 2008, 18:12:50, in reply to "Re: classic airport sighting"
24.148.70.119
There still are some airports that have smoking lounges. Only thing is, that most of them are in southern states, and or Sunbelt states that are located either along I-40, or south of there.
Some examples(including some outside the sunbelt):
-Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky airport(as it's on the KY side, and doesn't have to comply with the Ohio ban)
-Will Rogers Airport in Oklahoma City
-Greensboro, NC's airport
-Atlanta/Hartsfield airport
-St. Louis/Lambert Field
-Salt Lake City's airport
-Denver International Airport(oddly enough, there is an exemption in the state ban for DIA's smoking lounges. I've heard this is supposedly one of the best airport smoking lounges in the country.)
Thanks for sharing that sightings report here, Randall.
--Previous Message--
: Great post "d".
: It reminds me that some
: of my best smoking
: encounters have been at
: airports with beautiful
: smoking flight
: attendants. So, in the
: style of Mark's Top
: Minnesota State Fair
: Sightings, here are my
: top 3 Flight Attendant
: Sightings:
:
: 3. Montreal's Pierre
: Eliot Trudeau
: International Airport,
: 1999 ... At that time
: there was a food court
: area where smoking was
: allowed. Also at that
: time before 9/11, nobody
: thought twice about
: someone who would spend
: a day there drinking
: coffee and reading a
: book. I hung out there
: several times, just
: taking in the view as
: literally dozens of
: flight attendants and
: airline employees took
: meal and smoke breaks.
: One day I sat with a
: pretty blonde flight
: attendant, I would guess
: in her early 30s, who
: was writing letters to
: friends, drinking
: coffee, and smoking
: while she had a long
: layover. We struck up a
: conversation when I
: asked her for a
: cigarette. The
: conversation got around
: the topic of smoking
: itself. It turned out
: she had started smoking
: only two years before.
: Her mother had gone
: through a difficult
: divorce, and she had
: spent time with her Mom
: in order to console her.
: As they bonded, the
: daughter took to smoking
: the odd cigarette along
: with her mother. She
: soon began to like it,
: and ended up becoming a
: regular smoker on her
: own. She seemed somewhat
: amused, but not alarmed,
: that she'd started
: smoking later in life,
: and seemed to regard
: smoking like any other
: indulgence ... like
: drinking a fine wine.
: She was no puffer,
: either. She took full
: inhales and it seemed to
: me like she took full
: pleasure in smoking
: attractively, with big,
: neat stream exhales.
:
: 2. Atlanta Hartsfield
: International Airport
: ... The last time I
: checked, this was one of
: the last places on Earth
: where you can still
: smoke indoors, in one of
: the many smoking lounges
: they still have ... or
: at least had a year and
: a half ago. I spent
: almost a whole day there
: waiting for a delayed
: flight. While I saw many
: female travelers
: smoking, some of them
: very attractive, I
: didn't see a single
: flight attendant until
: an hour before my
: flight. I had just about
: decided the airlines
: must have prohibited
: uniformed staff from
: public smoking, when I
: saw a woman walk into
: the smoking room I was
: in. She was wearing a
: long traveling coat, and
: underneath it was an
: airline uniform. She was
: fairly old for a flight
: attendant, possibly in
: her late 40s. But she
: was still attractive,
: with shoulder-length
: straight brown hair. She
: sat down, and made a
: cell phone call. She
: talked for quite awhile,
: with family I think.
: Only when she hung up
: did she dip into her
: purse and brought out a
: pack of Camel Lights.
: That really caught my
: eye. I expected a woman
: like this to be smoking
: VS 100s, Capris, or at
: least Marlboro Lights,
: but Camels! To my mind,
: here was a woman who
: knew what she liked, and
: didn't care that her
: image and personality
: didn't seem to fit her
: choice of brands.
: Clearly she smoked for
: herself, and not just
: out of habit. Her style
: wasn't remarkable, but
: she definitely savored
: it. Our seating and
: other factors didn't
: allow me to talk with
: her, but as I smoked, I
: enjoyed watching her
: work her way through two
: cigarettes, before she
: gathered up her things
: and headed out. She was
: obviously no newbie, but
: neither did she seem as
: weary and resigned as
: some mature smokers are.
: She smoked with obvious
: pleasure and completely
: unselfconsciously. I
: only wish I'd had a
: chance to speak with
: her.
:
: 1. Newark Airport, 1998
: ... I had a similar
: encounter a year before
: my Montreal meeting with
: another relatively
: mature flight attendant
: who was also a
: "late
: bloomer". The
: landing into Newark was
: rough because of bad
: weather. So bad, in
: fact, that my connecting
: flight was canceled and
: had to take another
: flight 5 hours later
: when the weather
: improved. As I walked
: ... staggered really ...
: off my flight and into
: the terminal, I found
: myself walking near one
: of the attendants from
: my flight in. We were
: both walking along with
: the crowd toward the
: exits, and I overheard
: her talking to another
: flight attendant,
: telling her she'd see
: her later, she was going
: out for a smoke! My ears
: perked up, and I
: followed her out to a
: large entryway sheltered
: by an outdoor roof.
: Although the weather was
: bad, there was very
: little wind here, which
: made for fantastic
: smoking for the next few
: hours. I saw
: "my" flight
: attendant talking on her
: cell phone while
: smoking. She was in her
: late 20s, nice figure,
: with long black hair in
: a pony tail. When she
: finished with her call,
: I approached her and
: asked her for a
: cigarette. She was happy
: to oblige, but asked if
: a Marlboro Red was okay.
: This was getting better!
: I said sure, and as I
: lit it, she lit another
: one herself. We joked
: about needing a smoke
: after the harrowing
: flight. She took massive
: inhales and produced
: massive exhales, too,
: seemingly a seasoned
: pro. I asked how long
: she'd been a smoker,
: though, and she said, a
: little sheepishly, under
: 3 years! I asked what
: prompted her to start
: smoking. She said she'd
: always been an athlete,
: but had injured her leg
: which was mostly healed,
: but permanently in no
: condition to continue
: her running. She
: actually told me that
: she'd always been
: interested in smoking,
: but had valued running
: more. Since she couldn't
: do that anymore, she
: figured, why not give
: smoking a try? She said
: she really liked it, and
: had never looked back. I
: thought then that I'd
: never met someone who
: started smoking in a
: more conscious way for
: such a deliberate
: reason. It was a
: beautiful thing to see.
:
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