A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 19

This is the 14th year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Why a story idea each day for the month? Because the best way to come up with a great story idea is to come up with a lot of ideas. And the best way to come up with a lot of ideas is to be proactive in sourcing story ideas.

Today’s story: At the airport bar, the ordinary rules do not apply.

There is never a wrong time to drink a beer in an airport, and that’s the beauty of it.

Did you arrive 2½ hours early and breeze through security? Reward yourself with a frosty beverage for breakfast. Are you and your spouse checked in for the overnight flight to Europe? Vacation starts now, so why not raise a late-night pint?

Sociologists say travel serves as “a chance to try out alternate identities.” At home, you might never dream of propping up a bar at 9 a.m. on a Thursday. But in the airport, the rules of everyday life do not apply. Everyone is just passing through. Fellow travelers are too wrapped up in their own itineraries to judge what you’re doing — or else they’re bending an elbow right beside you.

Disconnected from their routines, strangers develop an unusual sense of camaraderie and open up to each other like regulars at a neighborhood tavern: “You heading out or heading home?” … “Charleston? I know a great restaurant there!” … “What’re you drinking?”

The deliberately designed atmosphere of the airport bar inspires some of this behavior. Like casinos, many of these watering holes attempt to make patrons feel separated from the outside world. No clocks. Bright fluorescent lights instead of windows. ESPN news playing on a loop, showing highlights from last night’s games. Sure, you might keep nervously hitting refresh on your airline’s app to see when boarding begins, but there’s nothing else to worry about but the beer in front of you.

I’m always on the lookout for unique subcultures and this article struck me as that: Airport bars. 6AM and travelers are already hunkered over some sort of booze. The rules don’t apply here. Airplane travel somehow erases societal norms. If you travel, drink freely … and whenever you want.

I’m seeing an indie comedy. Three main characters. Frida (bartender), Lexie (waitress), Waldo (cook). The story takes place in real time: two hours. A slice of life. Each of the three lead characters have their own storylines based on personal issues that pose a question: What will I do? Give them each a choice they have to make by the end of the day.

Into their lives enter various customers. They come and go, and the interactions they have influence Frida, Lexie, and Waldo as they grapple with their issues. For example:

• Frida, who is 42, has just found out she is pregnant. She’s already raised three kids, now adults. There’s no way she can go through that whole parenting thing again. Besides, she doesn’t even know who the father is. She’s planning to get an abortion …
• Lexie has been accepted into a film school program. It offers her a chance to pursue her dream of becoming a movie director, but it will cost a lot of money and come on, who is she fooling. An airport bar waitress who dreams of becoming the next Scorsese?
• Waldo has spent years saving nickels and dimes from this gig, managing to scrape together $7,000. His brother, a professional gambler in Las Vegas, has given him an insider tip into today’s Kentucky Derby. A long shot horse named Chicago Way. 17–1 odds. To bet or not to bet?

This is a character and dialogue-driven piece. Think Clerks set in an airport bar. Drama, but mostly comedy.

There you go, my 19th story idea of the month. And it’s yours. Free! What would YOU do with it?

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12
Day 13
Day 14
Day 15
Day 16
Day 17
Day 18

Each day in April, I invite you to join me in comments to do some brainstorming. Take each day’s story idea and see what it can become when we play around with it. These are valuable skills for a writer to develop.

See you in RESPONSES to hear YOUR take on this story idea. And come back tomorrow for another Story Idea Each Day For A Month.

P.S.: Here is a real life saga I experienced at an O’Hare bar in 2016.