Tales of Two Americas: Stories of Inequality in a Divided Nation

Julia Alvarez recounts her experience being stranded overnight in the Atlanta airport, one of the largest airports in the United States and one that acts as a hub for travelers to various destinations within the country and abroad. The airport thus becomes the scene for interrogating socio-economic differences. Airports bring diverse groups together and act as “a cross-section of America, if not the world” (91). Simultaneously, the people alongside Alvarez represent the 90 percent of Americans who are not rich; the top one percent of Americans hold as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent. Even the airport reflects this partitioning, with wealthier travelers dining in airline clubs rather than the food court in which Alvarez and her husband sit.

After their flight back to their home in Vermont is delayed and later canceled, Alvarez and her spouse find themselves enmeshed in a kind of airport subculture. She wonders about the lives of the overworked airline representatives who deal with upset travelers and rebook flights. A woman with two children and an ailing, elderly father needs a hotel room for the night, while privileged corporate travelers quickly book them, giving no thought to the people around them. The airline refuses to allow stranded passengers use of their club facilities for overnight stay.