Many of us have done this… picking up someone at the airport.

If it someone that is visiting after a long time, you will park your car in garage and meet them when they come out of terminal.

If it someone you pick up often, you will try to master the “perfect pick up” – you start based on arrival time + baggage pick up time if any, and scoop them up from curb side within 5-10 minutes of them reaching there… seen a lot of people strive for this.

Waiting for my own pickup, I have seen a lot of different kinds of people, different tactics to avoid the cop or airport security person walking the curb side.  These tactics change based on time, rush, weather and car type.

• Classic looper – keep making loops around terminal until their pickups comes outside and call or wave them… see these guys go around multiple times.
• The Waiter – will pick the prime spot and wait with car running, until he has been told to move, drive up a bit and push the time limit again.
• They Are almost here – keep either passenger door or trunk open and look as if they are here… it doesn’t work always.
• Designated Waiter – leave someone in passenger seat while you go inside – they talk to the enforcer and tell them an excuse, I have seen the enforcer make the waiter call the driver to come out…
• I don’t care – Leave the car go inside, the enforcer asks whose car is it, looks around, they don’t like to tow or write ticket unless they really have to… and when they reach their patience limit, the driver will come out running and saying sorry, and start to move… and in some cases avoids the ticket
• And then there is the perfect pickup – Cell phones and Cell Phone waiting lots helped this form … as soon as the bags start coming, everyone gives a green signal to their pickup contact – who is in Cell Phone waiting lot – and show up at the door at the right time, load them up and go… You should see the joy and proudness on some of these pickups..

Probably we have done one or more of the above in our lives, but when you think about it – it is a form of ART and what you do is always the “right” tactic 🙂