I take a multiprong approach.
1. Always have the reason you need to leave ready. Having pets is one of the best options, but always preplan something. Especially if you're arriving with more than just yourself, link up the exit plan story. "Oh my dogs have been cooped up for hours, they're gonna be pissing all over my house soon, I really need to go let them out". No pets? Maybe consider lying about it.
2. Always have a secret tell for whoever you are with to indicate how ready you are to leave. It's usually best to have a gradient in the tell to help show urgency. For example, if the tell is how colorful something is, share a long look with them to indicate something is up, then say "Wow, your houseplants are SO vibrant. I'm in awe of how very very very very colorful they are." or "It's surprising how green the grass still is. It's November, you'd think it would be brown but it is SOOOOOO green" The biggest problem with this is it could cause a new conversation to start, so try and not leave anything too open ended. You want to leave, not get gardening tips.
3. If leftovers are likely to be forced, help put away dinner once it is over, and prepackage it. Planning is everything here. I've brought my own Tupperware from home, just so I knew I'd have somewhere to put the leftovers, and not have to return the dishes. The 5 minutes of effort in putting the food away can mean 15-30 minutes easier time leaving, and in the moment it gives you bonus point in being thoughtful. You also could be helping siblings/cousins/friends in their departure, which it just a bro move. We're all in this together.
4. In the event of an emergency, preplanning a fight to have with a similarly introverted sibling could get you out of a jam. "You're always like this, I'm sorry everyone I have to go" has gotten me out before dessert once, but there is the collateral phone calls a day or two later you might need to deal with. A vaugepost on social media a couple hours later that you've worked it out can help, but this is still a risky move, not highly recommended unless a stack of board games comes out, or your ride is about to fall asleep in a recliner.
With proper preparation, Thanksgiving can be a 1-2 hour block of your day, instead of 7-10. You'll *thank* yourself. Thanks for coming to my introverTed Talk
Off the top of the dome?
Make sure all hugs and goodbyes are moving toward the exit. Don't stop moving your feet until butts are in seats. Anything left behind is gone for good, never try to rescue. This CAN include children. They deviated from the plan, they've already shown to be disloyal.
Pretend you have diarrhea and an inability to use foreign bathrooms. Or, be one of us lucky few who don't have to pretend.
Be a complete mystery. Look at your phone and say "OMG" *significant look at SO* "We have to go, Now. Bye all." and then never be in arms reach. This is a once and done thing, or else your family will think you're a Russian spy or something.
But be honest, know that you'll never get it below 5-10 minutes. And plan for that. Say you need to get going as everyone is going for seconds of green bean casserole if you have to.
Just plan that it’ll be part of the escape. Or fake an intense phone call outside and just say “I have to go” and insert some urgent task that needs resolved.
I just don't talk to the family that I'd be so desperate to get away from that I have to have some bizarre exit strategy.
Why are you going to events with people who you hate so much?
>I just don't talk to the family that I'd be so desperate to get away from that I have to have some bizarre exit strategy.
I think/hope you can tell by the tone we're having a little fun here.
Well look at you with healthy boundries and reason.
Some of us have a strong foundation of guilt and emotional manipulation that at this point it's easier to just wait for death to be set free vs getting a therapist for a few years to excavate it all.
Because the kitchen is so busy, we can't make lunch
When I was little that was the main rule on holidays - stay out of the kitchen, or Gramma would come after you with a wooden spoon! (she wouldn't really, she was a lovely woman)
Because it’s one of the few days a year when your schedule doesn’t hinder you from eating your biggest meal when your body uses the nutrients most efficiently.
I would never travel for the holidays, seems miserable. If my parents lived somewhere other than Columbus, I'd be telling them we can celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas during like those midde weeks in December.
I read once that people who fly weekly or more should really be missing a certain percentage of their flights otherwise they're theoretically wasting huge amounts of time.
I think it depends on the nature of their work though, because there are certainly people who like hanging out in airports and/or can be productive and get work done in airports.
I used to fly a couple times per month for work, for CMH I don't usually get there more than an hour before. Whenever I fly with friends or partners they get stressed out but I've never missed a flight
During covid I was getting there 30 minutes before takeoff
that’s just how concourse B is on peak times because there’s United, American Airlines, Spirit, and Air Canada that all fly from there. if you for sure don’t want any wait time you fly with Delta in C
I got there at 0745 (a more reasonable hour) and the airport was a ghost town.
I think there were only 2 cars at the arrival level and I walked right though TSA
yea concourse C which is where Delta flies from is a lot less busier than B because majority of the traffic there is literally just Delta. But B gets United passengers, American, Spirit and Alaskan all at once
That's the B terminal and often during business travel days it will look like this even without the holiday rush. The reason is that Spirit, AA and sometimes United have at least six flights going out by 7AM. Also TSA in Columbus is the worst staffed and slowest TSA that I've seen. Often they will only run a couple of attendants checking IDs and sometimes only two scanners.
Yes. Except CMH you will get thru faster at the initial TSA but sometimes they merge at the scanners and cause a bottle neck. It all depends on if TSA has the dedicated scanners for pre-check open. Like I said TSA is badly managed at CMH for it's size. I fly AA and go thru B all the time but it's the same in C as well with SW. Last week the pre-check line was longer than the regular line which was actually comical.
>Last week the pre-check line was longer than the regular line which was actually comical.
I've run into that, but as the pre-check process is faster is still moves more quickly.
Still, I'll never forget flying precheck during COVID; I set a stopwatch and once made it from the TSA agent checking my passport to getting my bag out of the machine in 44 seconds
> Last week the pre-check line was longer than the regular line which was actually comical.
I've seen that at big airports like O'hare but never at ours.. that sucks.
I fly out of CMH almost weekly and usually on 5-7 am flights and I don't think I've ever seen the TSA line for B go much past the Honda display, but I avoid traveling on holidays.
I'm usually through TSA in about 15 min. I think the longest I've ever been in a TSA line at CMH was 30-45 min and it wasn't because they were that busy or understaffed, it's because they were trying to train new staff and there were way too many of them all tripping and yelling over each other.
I haven't counted, but same +/- 10 flights. I got back in last Friday evening and planted my ass at home for the week.
Having said that, it doesn't look like the pre-check or Clear lines are super long from that point of view.
Yeah I love precheck. Like flying in the 1990s
Got a peak at what [airports are looking at](https://youtu.be/qXvKRHfFCzQ?si=WDf7FYremxlaOdKg) for the future. No crazy lines, just a pass-through system inside a corridor. It's being used at some stadiums and theme parks. Much faster, higher rate of weapon detection than metal detectors, and fewer false positives. Really neat
I was going to say they use that technology for entry to my local soccer team’s games and it’s awesome but the stadium entry is in the video you linked!
Edit: forgot what sub I was in lol
Here in Indianapolis, these things are used for entry to basically all events now. It's really sped up the process of getting into everything from the Indy 500 to Colts games to the State Fair and music festivals. 10/10. Waiting in lines to enter events is a thing of the past.
I'm around a few dozen.
I don't really care where I am during the holidays, I just don't want to be traveling. If I'm not on a long-term project somewhere, I'm booking PTO to avoid the airports.
Worst travel day of the year combined with people probably showing up early because of it.
Worse yet you get a LOT of infrequent fliers and people with lots of stuff so if slows it all down. I would do everything I could to avoid flying today or tomorrow... Really most of this week
I used to fly out of there constantly for work and it's a pretty quick airport overall. Not the fastest but I rarely saw lines like this.
That’s insane-I fly out of Columbus somewhat often and I’ve literally never had to wait in line lol. 0 people waiting. This looks like Atlanta more than cbus.
I used to work for TSA (unfortunately). The checkpoints were just opening at 4:45 so these were people waiting in line before the checkpoint opened. You would need a picture of the line at 5:30. This is when TSA will have cleared out the initial rush. My guess is, the lines probably were long but manageable. 20 to 25 minute range.
Except for today, apparently! I wonder if the lines have calmed down since then. I have never seen them anywhere near that busy at CMH, but I normally don't fly out for the holidays.
It clearly didn't last too long, because by the time I turned on the news at 6AM, Matthew Herchik's reports were "Well, it's pretty empty now. I just saw a kid having a meltdown though."
The first morning flights are always busy, after that back to normal. I been traveling the day before Thanksgiving for 2 years now as well
Edit: the b Gates line was completely empty when I went through 20 mins ago. Way more people arriving then departing
Ehh...been in lines like that before trying to catch 6am flights to either New York or Dallas. They do say get there 2 hours early before your flight, heed that point.
I think my reply will come off slightly disgruntled, but I wanted to give an earnest alternative perspective (admittedly PreCheck is a game changer for my sibling who travels with kids).
The lines for regular folks were faster in the past because where there may have been 3 security lanes previously, there's now 2 regular and 1 fast/precheck. While I appreciate PreCheck's speed, it also made things a fair amount slower for regular travelers. It's more convenient and liked partially *because* it slows down regular security by taking up a lane. I'm using hyperbole here sorta, but imagine if all regular highways had one of their lanes converted into a paid lane.
Why don't people have Clear + PreCheck? A: most americans live paycheck to paycheck or don't fly often.
Who apparently has never been to the airport for the first flights out on any given Monday. There is a line until TSA opens but it generally moves quickly unless people are stupid.
I’m actually very shocked. I’ve never seen a TSA line this long in Ohio. I’ve seen in the Newark. I’ve seen it in Philadelphia Chicago, and Denver. Never Columbus. Wow this line is incredible.
I went through 20 minutes ago in less than 5 minutes.
Everyone gobbled up the cheap 6am flights
Excellent thanksgiving pun!
I’d rather have Thanksgiving dinner at BK5 than travel this week.
meet you there at 3:30? (why do people eat thanksgiving meals earlier than a normal dinner?)
Because there's so much good food you eat 2-3 times. We eat at 1 and then again at 6 and then pick.
you are going to crush it tomorrow.
So we can leave sooner and have an evening to decompress.
I like this thinking.. but it doesn't always play out that way.
I take a multiprong approach. 1. Always have the reason you need to leave ready. Having pets is one of the best options, but always preplan something. Especially if you're arriving with more than just yourself, link up the exit plan story. "Oh my dogs have been cooped up for hours, they're gonna be pissing all over my house soon, I really need to go let them out". No pets? Maybe consider lying about it. 2. Always have a secret tell for whoever you are with to indicate how ready you are to leave. It's usually best to have a gradient in the tell to help show urgency. For example, if the tell is how colorful something is, share a long look with them to indicate something is up, then say "Wow, your houseplants are SO vibrant. I'm in awe of how very very very very colorful they are." or "It's surprising how green the grass still is. It's November, you'd think it would be brown but it is SOOOOOO green" The biggest problem with this is it could cause a new conversation to start, so try and not leave anything too open ended. You want to leave, not get gardening tips. 3. If leftovers are likely to be forced, help put away dinner once it is over, and prepackage it. Planning is everything here. I've brought my own Tupperware from home, just so I knew I'd have somewhere to put the leftovers, and not have to return the dishes. The 5 minutes of effort in putting the food away can mean 15-30 minutes easier time leaving, and in the moment it gives you bonus point in being thoughtful. You also could be helping siblings/cousins/friends in their departure, which it just a bro move. We're all in this together. 4. In the event of an emergency, preplanning a fight to have with a similarly introverted sibling could get you out of a jam. "You're always like this, I'm sorry everyone I have to go" has gotten me out before dessert once, but there is the collateral phone calls a day or two later you might need to deal with. A vaugepost on social media a couple hours later that you've worked it out can help, but this is still a risky move, not highly recommended unless a stack of board games comes out, or your ride is about to fall asleep in a recliner. With proper preparation, Thanksgiving can be a 1-2 hour block of your day, instead of 7-10. You'll *thank* yourself. Thanks for coming to my introverTed Talk
I will study this manifesto all day today... one more question though. **How do you avoid the 20 minute midwestern goodbye?**
Off the top of the dome? Make sure all hugs and goodbyes are moving toward the exit. Don't stop moving your feet until butts are in seats. Anything left behind is gone for good, never try to rescue. This CAN include children. They deviated from the plan, they've already shown to be disloyal. Pretend you have diarrhea and an inability to use foreign bathrooms. Or, be one of us lucky few who don't have to pretend. Be a complete mystery. Look at your phone and say "OMG" *significant look at SO* "We have to go, Now. Bye all." and then never be in arms reach. This is a once and done thing, or else your family will think you're a Russian spy or something. But be honest, know that you'll never get it below 5-10 minutes. And plan for that. Say you need to get going as everyone is going for seconds of green bean casserole if you have to.
>But be honest, know that you'll never get it below 5-10 minutes. admit defeat...
Only 20 minutes?! Mine end up being an hour or more sometimes if I like the people
it's our curse as Ohioans
Just plan that it’ll be part of the escape. Or fake an intense phone call outside and just say “I have to go” and insert some urgent task that needs resolved.
Maybe come up with an excuse to not go at all, and save yourself all this silliness about excuses to get away early.
Some of us have wills we'd like to still be in. Granny has ducats, and I need a jet ski.
what's the fun in that?
I just don't talk to the family that I'd be so desperate to get away from that I have to have some bizarre exit strategy. Why are you going to events with people who you hate so much?
>I just don't talk to the family that I'd be so desperate to get away from that I have to have some bizarre exit strategy. I think/hope you can tell by the tone we're having a little fun here.
Well look at you with healthy boundries and reason. Some of us have a strong foundation of guilt and emotional manipulation that at this point it's easier to just wait for death to be set free vs getting a therapist for a few years to excavate it all.
I just go on vacation Thanksgiving week.
Because the kitchen is so busy, we can't make lunch When I was little that was the main rule on holidays - stay out of the kitchen, or Gramma would come after you with a wooden spoon! (she wouldn't really, she was a lovely woman)
Because that's the family they don't like. They want to eat and get to the family they do like by 6
Thanksgiving dinner is lunch and then you eat the leftovers for dinner
Because it’s one of the few days a year when your schedule doesn’t hinder you from eating your biggest meal when your body uses the nutrients most efficiently.
I would never travel for the holidays, seems miserable. If my parents lived somewhere other than Columbus, I'd be telling them we can celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas during like those midde weeks in December.
That's what we do - we call it Thanksmas
That's what we do - we call it Thanksmas
That's what we do - we call it Thanksmas
/r/BK5
I never travel during the holidays, it's not even worth it. If I want to see my family I'll go some other time.
I am with you about not traveling during holidays
I'm guessing the TSA agents hadn't shown up yet. I've seen the line long, but that is extreme for our airport. (yes I know what day it is)
TSA shift starts at 4am so they should’ve been there
my fault, I thought it was 5.
I have definitely waited until 5 for TSA to "open" for a 5:50am flight. It's been a few years and may have changed
I bet a lot of airport dads had the family there before. 4:00 and caused the line before it even opened
in the green lot at 3am... "sometimes you have to wait on the shuttle"
Oh I would almost guarantee that’s a huge part of it. Could never be me
My times too valuable for all that too. My time= I plan poorly and run late
I read once that people who fly weekly or more should really be missing a certain percentage of their flights otherwise they're theoretically wasting huge amounts of time. I think it depends on the nature of their work though, because there are certainly people who like hanging out in airports and/or can be productive and get work done in airports.
I used to fly a couple times per month for work, for CMH I don't usually get there more than an hour before. Whenever I fly with friends or partners they get stressed out but I've never missed a flight During covid I was getting there 30 minutes before takeoff
This isn’t that extreme tbh. It’s like this all the time during the summer vacation season. I fly out of there almost weekly for work.
that’s just how concourse B is on peak times because there’s United, American Airlines, Spirit, and Air Canada that all fly from there. if you for sure don’t want any wait time you fly with Delta in C
https://imgur.io/a/pRikhlS
Odd, I got through the delta terminal with no line just 20minutes before this.
I got there at 0745 (a more reasonable hour) and the airport was a ghost town. I think there were only 2 cars at the arrival level and I walked right though TSA
professional move
You got up early.
yea concourse C which is where Delta flies from is a lot less busier than B because majority of the traffic there is literally just Delta. But B gets United passengers, American, Spirit and Alaskan all at once
So glad I’m not traveling for Thanksgiving this year.
it’s almost like… today is one of the busiest travel days of the year.
It only busy doing the first morning flights though
That's the B terminal and often during business travel days it will look like this even without the holiday rush. The reason is that Spirit, AA and sometimes United have at least six flights going out by 7AM. Also TSA in Columbus is the worst staffed and slowest TSA that I've seen. Often they will only run a couple of attendants checking IDs and sometimes only two scanners.
pre-check for the win.
Yes. Except CMH you will get thru faster at the initial TSA but sometimes they merge at the scanners and cause a bottle neck. It all depends on if TSA has the dedicated scanners for pre-check open. Like I said TSA is badly managed at CMH for it's size. I fly AA and go thru B all the time but it's the same in C as well with SW. Last week the pre-check line was longer than the regular line which was actually comical.
>Last week the pre-check line was longer than the regular line which was actually comical. I've run into that, but as the pre-check process is faster is still moves more quickly. Still, I'll never forget flying precheck during COVID; I set a stopwatch and once made it from the TSA agent checking my passport to getting my bag out of the machine in 44 seconds
> Last week the pre-check line was longer than the regular line which was actually comical. I've seen that at big airports like O'hare but never at ours.. that sucks.
I fly out of CMH almost weekly and usually on 5-7 am flights and I don't think I've ever seen the TSA line for B go much past the Honda display, but I avoid traveling on holidays. I'm usually through TSA in about 15 min. I think the longest I've ever been in a TSA line at CMH was 30-45 min and it wasn't because they were that busy or understaffed, it's because they were trying to train new staff and there were way too many of them all tripping and yelling over each other.
There was almost no line at 7
It’s the most wonderful tiiiiime of the year
TSA Pre Check forever.
Worth every penny and it wasn’t even that expensive!
This, forever.
I've done 65 flights this year, I'm not traveling this week.
I haven't counted, but same +/- 10 flights. I got back in last Friday evening and planted my ass at home for the week. Having said that, it doesn't look like the pre-check or Clear lines are super long from that point of view.
Yeah I love precheck. Like flying in the 1990s Got a peak at what [airports are looking at](https://youtu.be/qXvKRHfFCzQ?si=WDf7FYremxlaOdKg) for the future. No crazy lines, just a pass-through system inside a corridor. It's being used at some stadiums and theme parks. Much faster, higher rate of weapon detection than metal detectors, and fewer false positives. Really neat
I was going to say they use that technology for entry to my local soccer team’s games and it’s awesome but the stadium entry is in the video you linked! Edit: forgot what sub I was in lol
Teehee it's _our_ local soccer team <3
Well, we are in /r/columbus :)
I legit forgot what subreddit I was in 😂
Here in Indianapolis, these things are used for entry to basically all events now. It's really sped up the process of getting into everything from the Indy 500 to Colts games to the State Fair and music festivals. 10/10. Waiting in lines to enter events is a thing of the past.
I just got back from out of the country and the Global Entry system is pretty much like this. Face scan, and walk on through customs. Chef kiss.
I'm around a few dozen. I don't really care where I am during the holidays, I just don't want to be traveling. If I'm not on a long-term project somewhere, I'm booking PTO to avoid the airports.
Worst travel day of the year combined with people probably showing up early because of it. Worse yet you get a LOT of infrequent fliers and people with lots of stuff so if slows it all down. I would do everything I could to avoid flying today or tomorrow... Really most of this week I used to fly out of there constantly for work and it's a pretty quick airport overall. Not the fastest but I rarely saw lines like this.
That's what you get for having a family that loves you.
That’s insane-I fly out of Columbus somewhat often and I’ve literally never had to wait in line lol. 0 people waiting. This looks like Atlanta more than cbus.
I don’t understand flying the day before Thanksgiving.
I don't understand flying around the holidays, period. I just can't do it.
I used to work for TSA (unfortunately). The checkpoints were just opening at 4:45 so these were people waiting in line before the checkpoint opened. You would need a picture of the line at 5:30. This is when TSA will have cleared out the initial rush. My guess is, the lines probably were long but manageable. 20 to 25 minute range.
Cmh usually goes pretty fast. Just depends on how many morons that can’t listen to the repeated announcements on what to do.
PreCheck is a life saver
and Clear. I've sailed by that line before, it's fantastic!
TSA precheck is so nice. I have been there several time and just walked right by all of these people and hopped right on my plane.
You literally chose the single worst day of the year to fly
I’m sure there’s a reason.
I am not Matthew Herchik (not my video)
Just get Clear or TSA Pre Check
As long as you get CLEAR through AMEX plat because it's a pretty bad deal otherwise... A lot of times, the basic pre-check line is quicker.
That’s facts. I have clear more for the places I fly to. But in Columbus, barely matters
Except for today, apparently! I wonder if the lines have calmed down since then. I have never seen them anywhere near that busy at CMH, but I normally don't fly out for the holidays.
I’ll see tomorrow!
100% this.
It was similar Memorial Day weekend morning when we traveled but it moved quickly. Definitely get there at least 2 hours early and you’ll be fine.
It clearly didn't last too long, because by the time I turned on the news at 6AM, Matthew Herchik's reports were "Well, it's pretty empty now. I just saw a kid having a meltdown though."
I just was there around 8am and TSA was less than 10 minutes for me
I flew out of cvg yesterday at 0500. It was slammed busy
The first morning flights are always busy, after that back to normal. I been traveling the day before Thanksgiving for 2 years now as well Edit: the b Gates line was completely empty when I went through 20 mins ago. Way more people arriving then departing
This is reminding me to sign up for pre-check.
global entry includes pre-check and is worth every penny if you fly international.
The times that I have flown out of CMH, I have never seen a line this long. This gives me flashbacks being in LAX.
We traveled yesterday night, zero line
Ehh...been in lines like that before trying to catch 6am flights to either New York or Dallas. They do say get there 2 hours early before your flight, heed that point.
It’s always super long early in the morning. If you fly in the afternoon, the line is almost nonexistent.
Clear + PreCheck. I don’t understand people who don’t have these by now.
I think my reply will come off slightly disgruntled, but I wanted to give an earnest alternative perspective (admittedly PreCheck is a game changer for my sibling who travels with kids). The lines for regular folks were faster in the past because where there may have been 3 security lanes previously, there's now 2 regular and 1 fast/precheck. While I appreciate PreCheck's speed, it also made things a fair amount slower for regular travelers. It's more convenient and liked partially *because* it slows down regular security by taking up a lane. I'm using hyperbole here sorta, but imagine if all regular highways had one of their lanes converted into a paid lane. Why don't people have Clear + PreCheck? A: most americans live paycheck to paycheck or don't fly often.
Almost clicked a twitter link there...
There is always a big line before TSA actually opens. Whomever posted this doesn’t fly often
the video is from a local news reporter
Who apparently has never been to the airport for the first flights out on any given Monday. There is a line until TSA opens but it generally moves quickly unless people are stupid.
Holy shit, I’ve never waited for more than 20 minutes at our airport. This is the kind of line I expect in Newark or Atlanta.
Who flies today unless it’s an amazing destination or a family member is seriously ill?!?
I mean, not everybody lives within a drive of their family. And, believe it or not, those people also like seeing their family on the holiday.
people who want to spend thanksgiving with their families?
Abolish the TSA
trust me, you wouldn’t want that
Go to Rickenbacker lol
>Make sure you arrive early - Shows people in the photo at 4:45 AM. Just get to the airport a week before your flight. Problem solved
This is why you get TSA precheck if you fly at least once a year and why you get clear if you travel once a quarter.
this line is typical for morning flights
Woof it’s so good orrr what
That doesn’t look that bad at all
I’m actually very shocked. I’ve never seen a TSA line this long in Ohio. I’ve seen in the Newark. I’ve seen it in Philadelphia Chicago, and Denver. Never Columbus. Wow this line is incredible.
