Yo,
Hope everyone had a great weekend! I spent a lot of mine driving the wonderful backroads of the Midwest. Despite what you may think (but actually not), these drives are incredibly, incredibly boring.
If you’re anything like me and can’t stand to sit in your own thoughts for more than 5 minutes, then podcasts become your best friend. Have others do the thinking for you, and just listen.
But what happens when you’ve gone through your weekly lineup, still have another 4 hours to go on your drive, and don’t feel like listening to music? Well, that’s where I start making phone calls to friends to catch up.
And there is really only one other situation where I find myself doing this, which is airports.
So, this week, I’ve got two ideas on how we can make the most of our idle time when we’re travelling.
Catching up with friends is hard.
Back in college I had a 30-minute walk back to my house following my last class, so I would use that time to call 5 or so friends that I hadn’t talked to in a bit (all college students are free Friday afternoons). It was effortless.
But as an adult this becomes slightly harder. My commutes are shorter, I am generally busier, and I have more friends that I no longer see because of college. When I do speak with someone I haven’t talked to in a while, I find myself thinking “Man, why don’t we catch up more often”, only to revert back to not reaching out.
And I’m sure I’m not the only one with this problem.
There should be an app that collects a list of all the people you’ve made a call to in the past year, sets reminders to catch up with people who you haven’t caught up with in a while, and keeps a running count of the days it’s been since you last connected.
Think of it like the Gmail follow-up feature, but for friends. We’ll call it Ketchup.
If you really want to drill down, you could have it scrape conversations and generate a list of topics covered in the previous conversation.
Does it make your calls feel like work meetings? Yes.
Would it work for me? Yes.
Ok, so this app helps you keep up with friends, but what happens when you’re up to date with no one left to call?
Here’s another app idea that can help you meet new people when you’re travelling.
Everyone likes a good romcom. And a good romcom always has the airport scene where one person is boarding the plane to leave forever, while the other one rushes in last minute to shout “Wait, don’t board that plane I love you” or something, then happily ever after.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, here are some pictures to jog your memory.
Well thanks to TSA and increases in airport security, this can’t happen anymore.
Nowadays you see most people sitting at the Chili’s-To-Go by themselves, making sure they don’t sit directly next to someone else at the bar, while also thinking they have good tension with the person they’ve been making occasional eye contact with.
But what if that eye contact would become something. You’ve got an hour and a half before you board because you’re Type A and got precheck just to hurry up and wait, might as well make the most of it.
Introducing Tinder, but exclusively for airports. We can call it Extra Baggage, Laid Over, Wingman, TSA Precheck You Out, etc.
Dating apps are exploding and already have the capability of connecting you with others in your area. What was once pen pals, late night landline calls, and yearly trips has turned into a multibillion dollar dating industry that is geographically optimized to help you meet those within proximity.
This app would just take that proximity and narrow it down even more to within the walls of the airport. If you want to plan ahead, you can enter your layover information and start matching ahead of time.
The app could partner with airport vendors, like Chili’s-To-Go for special first date promotions and reservations, and maybe even the adjoined hotel for discounted rates if you have an overnight layover and book together. You could either charge for the app or skim off the top of every dinner the app helps coordinate. No more lonely airport dinners or boredom in the terminal, go find love in a hopeless place.
The good news? If it goes poorly, you’ll never have to see them again.
The bad news? If it goes well, you may never see them again.
Who knows, maybe you could even take advantage of someone’s extra Amex lounge guest pass.
If you’re anything like me and can’t stand to sit in your own thoughts for more than 5 minutes, then podcasts become your best friend. Have others do the thinking for you, and just listen.
But what happens when you’ve gone through your weekly lineup, still have another 4 hours to go on your drive, and don’t feel like listening to music? Well, that’s where I start making phone calls to friends to catch up.
And there is really only one other situation where I find myself doing this, which is airports.
So, this week, I’ve got two ideas on how we can make the most of our idle time when we’re travelling.
We’ll Call It Ketchup
Catching up with friends is hard.
Back in college I had a 30-minute walk back to my house following my last class, so I would use that time to call 5 or so friends that I hadn’t talked to in a bit (all college students are free Friday afternoons). It was effortless.
But as an adult this becomes slightly harder. My commutes are shorter, I am generally busier, and I have more friends that I no longer see because of college. When I do speak with someone I haven’t talked to in a while, I find myself thinking “Man, why don’t we catch up more often”, only to revert back to not reaching out.
And I’m sure I’m not the only one with this problem.
There should be an app that collects a list of all the people you’ve made a call to in the past year, sets reminders to catch up with people who you haven’t caught up with in a while, and keeps a running count of the days it’s been since you last connected.
Think of it like the Gmail follow-up feature, but for friends. We’ll call it Ketchup.
If you really want to drill down, you could have it scrape conversations and generate a list of topics covered in the previous conversation.
Does it make your calls feel like work meetings? Yes.
Would it work for me? Yes.
Ok, so this app helps you keep up with friends, but what happens when you’re up to date with no one left to call?
Here’s another app idea that can help you meet new people when you’re travelling.
I Got To The Airport 2 Hours Early, Now What?
Everyone likes a good romcom. And a good romcom always has the airport scene where one person is boarding the plane to leave forever, while the other one rushes in last minute to shout “Wait, don’t board that plane I love you” or something, then happily ever after.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, here are some pictures to jog your memory.
Well thanks to TSA and increases in airport security, this can’t happen anymore.
Nowadays you see most people sitting at the Chili’s-To-Go by themselves, making sure they don’t sit directly next to someone else at the bar, while also thinking they have good tension with the person they’ve been making occasional eye contact with.
But what if that eye contact would become something. You’ve got an hour and a half before you board because you’re Type A and got precheck just to hurry up and wait, might as well make the most of it.
Introducing Tinder, but exclusively for airports. We can call it Extra Baggage, Laid Over, Wingman, TSA Precheck You Out, etc.
Dating apps are exploding and already have the capability of connecting you with others in your area. What was once pen pals, late night landline calls, and yearly trips has turned into a multibillion dollar dating industry that is geographically optimized to help you meet those within proximity.
This app would just take that proximity and narrow it down even more to within the walls of the airport. If you want to plan ahead, you can enter your layover information and start matching ahead of time.
The app could partner with airport vendors, like Chili’s-To-Go for special first date promotions and reservations, and maybe even the adjoined hotel for discounted rates if you have an overnight layover and book together. You could either charge for the app or skim off the top of every dinner the app helps coordinate. No more lonely airport dinners or boredom in the terminal, go find love in a hopeless place.
The good news? If it goes poorly, you’ll never have to see them again.
The bad news? If it goes well, you may never see them again.
Who knows, maybe you could even take advantage of someone’s extra Amex lounge guest pass.
Minted New York
Final Thoughts
I decided to keep it light for today, especially with how many questions I stirred up from Friday’s piece. I’ll make sure to have something juicier for next week.
Make sure to catch up with friends or enjoy a nice, cold, and extremely expensive airport beer for me.
‘Til Friday.
from, matt
