Places and Non-Places: It's all What You Make It

After reading an excerpt from Marc Augé’s book Non-Places, and discussing the defining characteristics of both places and non-places within class, I’ve decided that what really makes a space a place or non-place is the perspective of the person. I tried to think of places I go (or could go) that are really “non-places”: those places that really do not carry an emotional history within them and the places people inevitably visit without that ever being a destination. I thought about airports, and airplanes, and even the restaurant where I waitress and all the people who move in and out of it each night. For the actual assignment of relying observations taken within a “non-place” I thought most of airplanes. Airplanes are even more of a non-place than an airport terminal. I recalled a few weeks ago when I was last on a plane. I was returning back home and was not exactly excited about that, and I was traveling alone. I remember sitting in Chicago’s O’hare airport on my layover. My first intentions were to distance myself from others and general boredom, but, having forgotten my IPOD, already read my magazines, and finding all newsstands closed for the night I just people-watched. There was the old couple possibly Dutch, or more excitingly world travelers whose names were called in several languages for the final, final, FINAL boarding call to Amsterdam. The massive, annoying high school girls sports team camped out on the floor eating Pizza Hut express chattering non-stop, the Asian woman who oblivious to the crowding gate area was laying instead of sitting and taking up four seats. Still, despite the crowding, everyone maintained the “don’t sit next to someone you don’t know” rule. However, I found myself wanting to talk to these people. Situations like this have always fascinated me: where are all these people going, who are they, what are their stories? Many flights and terminals have switched from non-places to places for me. I have shared tables with strangers in the airport restaurants instead of adhering to one person per table all facing each other’s backs. I exchanged a magazine with a 30 something woman flying back to Michigan State for a weekend to meet old college girlfriends, heard about middle-aged men’s jobs and wives, and desperately ran through airports with people I’ve just met only to yell “good luck!” when we get to our gates. While most people insist that certain areas remain “non-places” I think they are excellent places to meet the most random people! I think it’s just my personality, I prefer to make non-places more comfortable by changing them into places. (And the conversation always flows more freely after a glass of wine at the airport sports bar!)