A lost highway of wires and pipes!

I flew to Atlanta a few weeks ago for work. When the time came to fly home, I got to the airport on time, but the line for the security check seemed to take an especially long time. I don’t know that it was all that long, but I was worried about missing my flight and just wanted to get home.

When I found my departure gate, I took a seat and couldn’t help but look up at the ceiling. As part of a major renovation, the ceiling had been exposed and there were wires and pipe running every which way. There were some big ones, some small ones, some looked more important than others, but to a non-expert like myself it looked like one big mess.

When I Googled “exposed ceiling,” I learned that some of the wires and pipes would most likely run electrical wires, low voltage wires for networking and phones, water for sprinklers and plumbing, cooling water for equipment, air for heating or cooling, and a host of other needs. In my tired state, I found myself thinking about the highway of wires and pipes a lot in the same way as the rush of passengers I saw walking briskly past my throughout the airport.

A long, desert highway

There were some important looking passengers like the business executives racing to catch their next flight. There were hipsters with their leather backpacks and wireless headphones that probably cost as much as I spent on my first apartment.

There were teenagers in large travel groups with teachers and chaperones, and then there were everyday people like myself just trying to get to the right gate.

Yes, the passengers reminded me a lot of the work being done up above. I’m sure some of the wires and pipes play important jobs, like cooling or heating the airport, while others played less important roles. In fact, to my eye, one particular wire looked like it was heavily important. There were red and yellow arrows pointed to it. There were other markings leading away from the pipe, all these indicators making me think that it provided power or electricity to that section of the airport in the event of emergency or outage.

A place for us all

In the grand scheme of things though, airport management and folks like me needed all the wires and pipes to do their jobs. If one wire or pipe failed, then I suspect we would all fail. You can’t run an airport without electrical power.

Yes, yes, we’re just like those wires, we all have our place. We may look different but we’re equally important. We all have our place of importance.

……

Some more thoughts on the roles we play in life:

“Each one of us matters, has a role to play, and makes a difference. Each one of us must take responsibility for our own lives, and above all, show respect and love for living things around us, especially each other.” —Jane Goodall

“We all need to decide whether to “play it safe” in life and worry about the downside, or instead take a chance, by being who we really are and living the life our heart desires. Which choice are you making?” —Charlie Badenhop

“Try not become a man of success. Rather become a man of value.” —Albert Einstein

“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” —Henry Ford

“No one can whistle a symphony. It takes an orchestra to play it.” —H.E. Luccock