Todd Sumamno
We know travelers are excited to head to their destination, but what if they need to be entertained even at the airport? The airport is so cavernous that you’d think you wouldn’t end up seeing more weirdos. But sadly, no matter how large the airport is, it seems it’s the only place where flyers can witness some of the weirdest things ever caught on camera. Nowhere else will you see people walking around with bare feet, wearing pyjamas, and putting their frozen turkey in a bin so it can pass through security in one single place, outside of their own home, of course. If these entice you, or if you just want to see many candid photos taken at airports depicting people who are entertaining themselves in the weirdest way, this list below is for you!
Santa’s Sleigh Must Have Broken Down
Santa’s Christmas just got a bit shorter as he was detained by TSA. Why? Well, the bag and bin in the picture appear to be what Santa wanted to take on the plane. We don’t know exactly what he had in his bag that would make security pull him aside, but it definitely wasn’t a matter of profiling. Maybe the security guard just wanted to give him his wish-list. Or maybe it really is a case of a stolen identity. ‘Identity theft is no joke Jim!’
Smuggle In Penguins?
Even penguins need to go through security. You never know what they’re hiding in their beaks. Probably a stapler and some fancy Crain’s stationery, because it looks like they just came from the Westport Papyrus. Having these penguins around is a way to entertain yourself, although it is a tad weird. But think of the things you can all do! Like you can get them espresso shots at Starbucks or help them find some rep ties at the Brooks Brothers airport boutique for the Met Gala Ball that they’ve been invited to.
Take Your Cosplay To A Whole New Level
First, where are the lightsabers? Second, are we at Comic Con? Nope, we’re still at the airport and guess what we found? People role-playing their favorite Star Wars characters to entertain themselves at the airport. Not only is this weird, it’s also creepy. It’s not even Halloween! These people are amateurs. The best place to dress up as Star Wars characters is at the Rub-A-Dub laundromat or the YA section at Walmart. Even so, being Darth Vader doesn’t mean he’s immune to checking the status of his flight.
Flash Mob
The lines at the security check are always long. To pass the time, you prepare yourself to go through security by putting your carry-ons on the conveyor belt, your laptop in one bin, and your shoes, belts, wallets and other accessories in another bin. Well, instead of having to entertain yourselves, sometimes people will do that for you! Flash mobs have been known to break out at airports completely unexpectedly. Now there is a brilliant way to spend time at the airport, maybe even join in!
Embarrass Their Relatives
This seems like a new trend where people make very elaborate signs for their relatives when they are coming home from a long (or short) trip. Signs making jokes about where they have ‘actually’ been. We aren’t one to judge, but we think this is really just to keep people entertained, and not really to reveal something about where they were.
Surf The Baggage Carousel
So, yeah, it gets THIS BORING if you have to spend a long time at the airport. Well, for one man, he got creative and grabbed his bodyboard and then picked a slowly-moving baggage carousel with no luggage to surf. But then the man realized he wasn’t in the water and his bodyboard got damaged. The man’s name is Ben Graeff and he hails from New Jersey. He performed the sport because he needed a new way to entertain himself at the airport. Yep, it’s weird, but it’s also inspired.
Celebrity Watch
Even celebrities use regular airlines. One way to pass the time is to gawk at celebs and take pictures of them for some free entertainment. Look, there’s Brad Pitt! But do you want to see more celebrities? But to ensure you actually spot some actors or singers, hang out at the LAX airport. Many celebs start their flight at LAX, as that’s the airline that’s nearest to their home.
Make Your Luggage Memorable
Okay, so we know what’s going on here. This man put his image on his luggage so it’s easier to find at the baggage claim and also harder to steal. It’s weird, but it’s also ingenious. Who’s going to steal his luggage now? And if his luggage gets lost and becomes mishandled luggage, he has a surefire way to notify the airline everything he knows about his bag, which is protocol. He can just make them stare at him and say that’s the identifying mark on his luggage. Genius!
Let The Kids To Entertain Themselves
Here’s what’s happening. This young girl is giving her younger sister a spin on the luggage cart to entertain the both of them. Unfortunately, you can’t bring the carts into the terminal, so the parents have to find something else that’s entertaining for them to do before their kids start whining. Maybe they can bring them to the duty-free shop to buy them oversized Toblerone.
Find Creative Ways To Charge Their Phone
Some of the funniest scenes we see at an airport are how people manage to find every possible plug to charge their electronics on. We’ve even seen some genius people move the rapid charger station a little out from the wall to get to the electrical outlet (like pictured above). There are two plugs. One is for the rapid charger, which requires you to pay to use it in order to charge the batteries in your iPhones and the like. The other outlet was empty until people used it, also to charge their iPhones. Some stations make you pay, so people find quite incredible ways to beat the system. Some airports, though, have really embraced the importance of always being ‘charged up’!
Block The Moving Walkway
People use moving walkways as a chance to take a breather from all that walking to get to their gate. But some tweens who use the moving walkways don’t care and block the walkways in an effort to pretend they’re at an amusement park. We’ve even seen tweens travel the moving walkways backwards, kind of like when kids use the escalators at the mall the same way.
The Pilots Need To Stretch Out
Even pilots need a way to entertain themselves between flights or during delays at the airport. But what is this pilot doing? She should know not to sit there, where she can get too close to the engine, even if it’s off. She actually got many views on Instagram when she posted pics of herself doing yoga in and around the aircraft. Well, this really is a weird thing people do to entertain themselves.
Camp Out At The Check-In Counter
The best way to entertain yourself is also the best way to make time pass, sleeping. We all do it. But this photo is the weirdest of all as this woman has made a bed out of all her luggage. Her intention was probably to guard her luggage while she slept. But she’s not at her gate. With all that luggage, she’s probably near the check-in flight desk but apparently, she got so sleepy that she can’t even make it to the line. Word of advice: there’s tryptophan in turkey. She probably just ate too much of it.
Make Their Private Issues, Public
Did you know that the best way to entertain yourself at the airport in a very weird way is to publicly break up with your partner and, at the same time, put him to shame by taking too many selfies? Think of the minutes of fun you’ll have! Apparently, the Simon referred to was so involved in taking selfies that he bought himself a selfie stick. Well, that’s better than attaching your phone to the end of a broom handle. So the girlfriend found Simon’s selfie-stick and that was the last straw, according to New Need News.
Defrost A Turkey
Okay, so this is really weird. Who brings a whole turkey to the airport? Or is that chicken? Whatever it is, the turkey/chicken has been placed on the security bin, which means the owner has plans to take it on the flight. Well, good thing that bag is insulated because who doesn’t want to fly while the turkey is defrosting and it starts to smell? Is this entertaining? Well, for on-lookers it is. For the person who owns the turkey, it’s not. It’s dinner.
Yoga Time!
One way to entertain yourself at the airport when your flight is delayed is to do yoga. This is definitely weird, especially for on-lookers. If you also feel weird, just do the basics, like warming up, doing core work, doing hip openers, forward folds and a twist or two. If a physical asana practice is more than you want to take on in an airport, find an unused gate or a quiet corner and spend a few minutes meditating.
Work Out
While it’s become more frequent, we still think using the airport as your gym to entertain yourself — or make the hours shorten because of a delayed flight–is still weird. But many die-hard athletically fit women and men will not miss a day of gym, even when stuck at an airport. This woman is doing pushups. If you’re seated at your gate, you can use your chair to work on your triceps or to do reverse crunches. Use your imagination and you can accomplish anything.
Give Yourself A Manicure
A way to entertain yourself at the airport is to preoccupy yourself with your personal hygiene. For some, this is cutting your nails, including your toe nails. Gross! This allows for maybe an hour of some strange fun! Instead, it boggles us when we see them sitting by their gate and just taking their big smelly feet out and going at it. And where do those nails land? Since these people don’t have decorum, it’s highly possible that they let their nails fall to the airport floor.
Go Barefoot
For some reason, people really like to get comfortable at the airport after a delay or a cancellation. One way is to bare their feet. They take off their socks and shoes and walk around the airport. They believe they are freeing themselves when in reality they’re only annoying everyone else waiting for their flight.
Wear Exciting Outfits
Yep, people really do like to get comfortable at the airport, especially if there’s a delay due to bad weather. We’ve seen many people travel the whole time in their pyjamas and slippers, and it does kind of amuse those who see them. The people in pyjamas are also amused, or entertained, because the comfort of their attire signals them to sleep and makes them long for a bed. At the airport, that would be a chair. We’re not sure wearing pyjamas are appropriate to wear at an airport, but if Kesha does it, we can too!
PEOPLE ARRIVE Late On Purpose
One of the strangest forms of entertainment while at an airport is all fun and games for some but not for others. You show up at the airport late on purpose and have the check-in staff nicely allow you to move to the head of the line so you don’t miss your flight. The people who do this kind of prank will no doubt try it again because they know it works.
Electronics
To keep entertained at the airport, many choose to use their electronic devices. They have fun reading a book on their Kindle, they get engrossed with a movie playing on their laptop, they text and e-mail a lot using their iPhone and they play a game on their iPad. But other travelers need the outlets too, but when they ask these people to share, they say, “Get a life.” And so they do.
That’s Not The Bathroom. That’s A Bag.
This may not have happened at the airport, but we couldn’t not share this because it’s so gross. According to Cosmopolitan, the weirdest thing flight attendants have seen while on a flight is a man who peed in a trash bag hanging on the door of the bathroom. The man couldn’t hold it in because he had a full bladder.
Silvia
