The Arrivals Gate

The other morning my iPod shuffled over to one of my favourite Ani DiFranco songs, "The Arrivals Gate." I have listened to this song countless times and have the lyrics memorized, but for some reason that morning when I heard it, I *got* it, and it seemed so applicable and wonderful. For a moment I wished I'd understood it a few months ago -- but months ago I wasn't where I am now, so that would have been impossible, anyway.

Gonna go out
To the arrivals gate at the airport
And sit there all day
Watch people reuniting
Public affection so exciting
It even makes airports ok
Watching children run
With their arms outstretched
Just to throw those arms
Around their grandpa’s neck
Watching lovers plant kisses
Old men to their misses
At their arrivals gate

Watching a mother
With a mother’s smile
Don’t tell me to move
I just wanna sit here for a while
I have determined
It’s a sure cure for cancer
Watching excitement turn family dogs
Into dancers
At the arrivals gate

I got me a white bread sandwich
With some shredded lettuce
And I got me a ringside view
For my quaint little fetish

I just wanna drain my pink little heart
Of all it’s malice
And kick back for the afternoon
In this fluorescent palace

Everybody’s in a hurry
Here in purgatory
Except for me
I’m where I need to be

At the arrivals gate

I'd always taken this song literally, and really, it does reinforce my appreciation of airports (I already like them a lot because: traveling and buying trashy magazines and hunting for outlets). But when I heard it the other day the song had entirely new meaning.

It's really easy to resist change. We cling to what we know, even if it isn't awesome, because it's somehow less scary than the unknown. The thing I wonder is, do we really know the things we think we know? As a friend reminded me a couple of months ago, we're all in periods of transition and uncertainty, all the time. So why are we so afraid to absorb and move with the changes, instead of resisting them?

Call it purgatory, or whatever you want, but yeah, it's all of us, all the time. And today, I'm where I need to be.