Your Nearest Exit May Be Behind You

Rob and I are about 5 months into our Airport Volunteer Gig. We are having an absolute BLAST!

PDX has been undergoing massive changes for the past 5ish years. Recently, just about every week (no exaggeration), something is new. Stores close, others open, restrooms change locations, escalators go out of service for upgrades, mass transit stops move. I try to soothe exasperated, confused locals by telling them, “Don’t feel bad! I’m here a lot and I start every shift by walking around to see what’s new.” Talk about a dynamic workplace!

Today, in the wee hours, another huge change happened at PDX: the exits are now totally different. The old way is now closed and the new way is a much shorter walk, assuming you know where you are going. Rob and I aren’t part of the crew today helping passengers find their way out, but we will be soon. We hope today is going well so far!

Last week, Rob and I got a sneak peek at the new exits. Not just a peek, though. We got to saunter through the new exits – on both sides of the airport – many, many, many times. We volunteered to be Mock Passengers for the operations folks to test out the automatic exit doors. It was a hoot!

Super cool photo snagged from an employee
newsletter. Hi, Rob!!

I think the shirts were homemade, 
but I totally want a "Trial Human"
t-shirt. And sticker. And phone case.
Serious swag opportunities here!

About 75ish airport employees signed up to participate. Also onsite were about a half-dozen other Volunteer Information People, two people in wheelchairs, an antsy toddler in a stroller, and at least 6 therapy dogs with their handlers. Our job was to lap around each side of the airport, walking through the new exits at our natural pace, while a bevy of folks with safety vests and clipboards watched, took notes, and made adjustments.

Safety Vest + Clipboard = Life Goals
Please tell me there's a spreadsheet summarizing
the findings.

Some of us were given Test Luggage. This was quite fun…for two laps. The bags were heavy – clearly someone overpacked. After the second lap, I told an organizer I could no longer pull the suitcase (my back was already talking to me). He assured me that it was not a problem and pointed out where I could leave the suitcase. Each subsequent lap, the collection of abandoned bags grew. In all honesty, I felt better knowing I wasn’t the only one wimping out on lugging the luggage.

The Test Bags even had Test Bag
claim stickers on them!

Rob and I started out walking together, but waves of people eventually separated us. I spent several laps chatting with a woman who had just completed her 2 weeks of training for the airport cleaning crew. She was going to be working the 2:30pm to 11:30pm shift each night, with weekends spent catching up with her 14-year-old son. Single parents are exhausted heroes.

I caught up to Rob! LOVE this photo
taken by Mindy, one of our AMAZING
volunteer coordinators!

At one point during our moseying, a soccer ball was thrown into an exit. It was a planned test, to see if the doors responded appropriately (I assume they were supposed to close and not allow any more movement until an Official – not Trial – Human intervened). We were warned this was going to happen. Despite my deft and enviable Wii Fit skills dodging soccer balls, panda heads, and soccer cleats on my TV screen, I was nonetheless grateful my unathletic self was not in the exit when the sports ball arrived. 

(Good Lord -- I just looked it up. Wii Fit was introduced 20 years ago. Man, I'm old. But with excellent balance, thanks to my apparently ancient Wii Fit.)

We got to see some cool stuff under construction!
The Meet & Greet/Waiting Areas have the 
iconic Vintage PDX Carpet!

A Breach was also planned. I’m not sure what that was. I just know I had to stop in place when an alarm sounded. I also know that the Faux Breach on the second set of exit doors never happened since they had an actual problem that was better than any simulation. Thankfully, the two folks in wheelchairs were not stuck between the swinging doors for very long. I was also super impressed there was absolutely zero panic and instead many comments along the lines of “This is why we test the system! Thank you for being here!” PDX ROCKS!

The exit lane with the red X was
inoperable for the rest of the test once the 
wheelchairs got out. 

According to my pedometer, we walked 4 miles for the test (it was a 16,067-step day since I worked a 4-hour volunteer shift in the morning because Tim). During our Sizzle Pie pizza dinner break (thanks, PDX!!), I downloaded a handy tracker app so I could tap my phone’s screen each time I went through the exit. 16 laps for the second half!

Even though it was a long day with almost 7 miles of walking, I had so much fun being a Mock Passenger! The folks who work at PDX take such pride in their work and their workplace. I truly feel honored to be part of the PDXPeople community…AND get to hang out in such a beautiful space.

Truly, if you haven’t flown through Portland’s airport in the past…week...you should! It’s beautiful, it’s calming, it’s fun. And it’s always changing!

This will very likely end up on our
Christmas card this year.