Freedom of Choice

freelance n.

1. The freedom to poke cool ideas with a sharp stick.

   It baffles me that some freelancers don’t like to find their own story ideas. Chasing down ideas and writing them up is great sport.

    For example, after Dorval International Airport metastasized into Montreal-Pierre Elliot Trudeau International Airport, I wondered, “Who oversees the naming of airports? Are there no laws?” The International Civil Aviation Organization told me, “It’s a free-for-all.”

   Intrigued, I pitched an airport names article to one of my editors. “Why sure!” he said.

The Havana Jose Marti International Airport is named after a great Hispanic writer

   I discovered that airport names are portals into history. Often, like archeological sites, names and the history they tag lie buried beneath successive people and events. For example, an airport named after aviation pioneer John Moisant in 1940 is now named after a legendary jazz musician, giving us the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. The Liverpool airport was renamed in 2001 to honor John Lennon.

Some airports are named after musicians

   Great airport names include Chuck Yeager (first person to break the sound barrier), Jorge Chávez (first person to fly across the Alps), Sikorsky (legendary helicopter designer), Chhatarpati Shivaji (founded a Hindu Kingdom), Charles Darwin (penned the principles of natural selection) and Mother Teresa (nun to the destitute).

   Less desirable is the sycophantic naming of airports after politicians. Some offend: Ronald Reagan (Washington) fired 11,000 air traffic controllers. John Diefenbaker (Saskatoon) destroyed Canada’s Avro Arrow fighter jet program. I find the scurrying hypocrisy of the US Central Command changing the Saddam International Airport to Bagdad International Airport absolutely delicious. (The United States was once dictator Hussain’s most powerful friend and generous benefactor.)

 

A name change begins the rewriting of history

   Editors prescribe some dizzyingly fun topics. "Wanna write about truck tire treads?" "Er, lovely, boss!" but regular doses of my own ideas is medicine I can take anytime.

Copyright © Carroll McCormick 2014

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