On our daily walks to class, we usually have our minds on what we must get done today, but how often do we stop to think of that face in the crowd and what their story is. "ATL24- A day in the life of the world's busiest airport" does just that. This piece of multimedia journalism examines the stories of those faces in the crowd and proves that everyone has a story to tell.
In the "Love and Loss" section at 7:09 p.m., the story of a mother who prepares for her daughter's wedding while also mourning the loss of her husband captivated me. She thinks of all the things her husband won't be able to do at the wedding, but is comforted by the incredible strength of her daughter whom joined the military to pay her own way through medical school. Sheila must deal with such extreme highs and lows at the same time that it is overwhelming just to read about.
Another vignette that fascinated me was the story at 12 a.m. in the "No Ticket to Ride" section. For a time, the Atlanta airport was "the city's second-largest homeless shelter." Airports are dramatized in TV and movies as places where people go to escape what is around them, but that thought as a reality is far more serious and heartbreaking.
The last piece that interested me was that of maintenance man William Talton at 2 a.m. in the "It's Their City" section. Talton lost everything in the recent recession and took a job cleaning the luggage carousel to keep himself from living on the street. But despite this, Talton still works hard, having never failed a weekly cleaning inspection on the 19 carousels he oversees. Talton's character is best summed up in his own words, "'I couldn't afford to let pride get in the way.'"
The beauty of "ATL24" is that none of the stories included are really about travel. They are about the faces in the crowd and the stories that make the world such an interesting place to live in.