Father Relieved Family At Airport Gate Two Hours Early

July 15, 2017

Los Angeles International Airport — The Erickson family recently arrived at the gate two hours and one minute before their scheduled takeoff time, much to the relief of family patriarch Bill Erickson. The Ericksons were en route to Boston, Mass. for a family reunion this summer. Erickson insisted that they arrive early to ensure they don’t miss their flight.

“People ask, ‘Bill, don’t you ever feel silly just standing around for two hours?’ And I say ‘No.’ Not a chance,” he said. “You know what would make me feel stupid? Missing my flight. That would.”

While most major international airports recommend arriving two hours before your scheduled takeoff time, that still hasn’t stopped the Ericksons from going above and beyond.

“With all these fancy-schmancy security measures, it takes seemingly forever to get through security,” Erickson said. “You never know when you’re going to get stuck in line behind a family with 4 kids under the age of 12.”

Erickson has designed the most efficient outfit and bag combination to streamline his 2-minute wait from where you place your bags on the conveyor belt to when you walk through the metal detector.

“While normally I’d prefer some supportive sneakers, like New Balances, I just don’t have that kind of time in a TSA line. You have to wear loafers. Slip on, slip off. Badda bing, badda boom, you’re through security.”

Before airports began modernizing the technology in their terminals, the Erickson children were much more frustrated due to their iPhones running out of battery. Jerry Erickson, 12, reminisced on the olden days of three years ago.

“We would get to our gate two hours early, then by the time we boarded the flight my phone was on, like, 12 percent,” Jerry said. “Now, thankfully, I can keep a full charge at the stations throughout the terminal before we even begin pre-boarding.

“I still think it’s a little silly. I don’t think my dad fully understands that TSA recommends getting to the airport two hours early, not your gate.”

There is no word on the timeline of attack for their fall trip to Cabo, although Erickson did allude to producing his own, specially designed luggage.

“An international flight? Don’t be surprised if I’m rockin’ a backpack with a rip-chord that specifically takes my laptop out of my bag for me.”