I am indebted to anyone who has ever picked me up from the airport. As someone who hasn’t had my own car to drive in 5 whole years, I’m very dependent on public transit to get me everywhere I need to go in my city. In other cities without major public transit systems, I must rely on the kindness of strangers, friends, or family members to get me from the airport pickup line to my temporary living quarters. 

If you live in a smaller city like Columbus, Ohio, or Columbia, Missouri, picking up and dropping off people from the airport is as easy as pie. But if you’re from Dallas, Atlanta, Charlotte, New York, Chicago, or anywhere with an extremely chaotic international airport, you know how big of an ask it is to request a ride from such a busy location. Anyone willing to pick you up is worth their weight in gold.