Living on a Leash

When my wife and I thought we would be having kids we would see other parents out in public with their children on what I called a "kiddie leash".  It was a harness with a leash like you would use on your dog--but it allowed kids a small amount of room to roam while Mom or Dad held on to the other end.  I notice that there is an adult version of that now--but instead of a harness on one end a handle on the other, the "adult leash" has a USB plug on one end and a lightning charger on the other.

When you travel--as my wife and I did last week--you notice the "adult leash" everywhere in the airport.  When this first became "a thing", you would see people sitting on the tile floors of the concourses between gates.  Then it became common to see folks on the floor along the walls in the gate areas   I couldn't figure out why people would rather sit on the floor backed up against the wall than in the chairs near the gates--but then I realized, they were trying to charge their smartphones and tablets.  The three-foot length of their charging cords was as far as they could go away from the precious outlet along the wall.

Airports likely noticed this--and the bad reviews people would give them for "not having enough places to plug in your phone" on travel sites--and they put in "charging stations" near the gates--posts with a few regular outlets and a couple of USB ports.  That led to groups of people huddled around these ports--again, all three feet away--along with the people still sitting on the floor next to the standard outlets.  Now, airports like the one we flew into and out of in Cleveland--have put charging stations between every other seat.  And as we flew out on Sunday, nearly every person waiting at gates B6 through 12 had something plugged into them.

The desperate need to "charge up" has created a cottage industry at airports now.  There are stores with entire sections dedicated to "charging solutions"--whether they be large pre-charged batteries to longer charging cords that might give you six feet of "freedom" rather than the three you get from a standard cord.  There are even "charger exchanges"--where you can purchase a loaded charger from a dispenser--and exchange that for another model when it is exhausted--sort of like propane tank exchanges at retail stores.

I would like to a see a study conducted on electricity usage at the nation's airports over the past decade.  I'd be willing to bet that the switch to more efficient lighting and signage has been more than offset by having thousands of people plugged into every outlet in the building trying to charge their electronic devices.  I'd also like to know if that extra cost is being passed right back to the fliers in the form of higher gate fees--because we all know that there is no such thing as a free lunch--or a free charge.

Of course, people would find that their devices would charge up faster--and stay charged longer--if they weren't continuing to use them while they were sitting on the floor three feet away from the outlet while they were plugged in.  But then you wouldn't be able to upload all your photos from your trip to Instagram on the "free" wi-fi that is now the "expected standard" when it comes to going anywhere in public.