it's probably the worst! Already being upset about something (likely leaving someone you love) and then having to keep it together long enough to get through security, then the loneliness of sitting at the gate, and trying to look normal once on the plane as not to scare your seatmate! Surely someone knows what I'm talking about?

Not exactly.

I mean, I've had to travel to attend the funerals of family members and friends and I've been sad about the situation, but I can't recall a single time where I was sobbing or had to "pull it together" at an airport because I was overly emotional.

Don't you know there's no crying in the airport?

(apologies to Tom Hanks.)

Travel can be very emotional. It can be for happy or sad reasons, it can take you away from loved ones. Add stress into the bargain, and it's no wonder you can get upset.

However... For every emotional farewell, there is a hysterical tantrum, a manipulative sob, or worst of all, verbal (or even physical) aggression towards front line staff. Those, I have never had any time for.

I think the closest I've been to crying in an airport was when I saw my tab and found out what they charge for a beer!

Seriously, I did sit next to a girl (early 20's, I would guess) who sat facing the window and cried most of the way through a two hour flight.

Beat me to it.

I tend to be very calm once I get through security and/or on the plane, I think because I know that once I get into that controlled environment, there's not a lot I can do about anything until I get back off the plane and back outside again. I had to make a quick return from MSP to BNA last winter because my wife had called to tell me that my mother-in-law, who was in hospice at that point, probably wouldn't make it through the day. I went standby and squeezed into the last seat on a regional jet. I remember having a nice conversation with my seatmate, an farmer from somewhere in Minnesota who was going to BNA for a weekend getaway and had never been there, and had seldom flown. I never brought up my own reason for flying that day and was able to forget about what was going on with my wife's family for a while.

I know this sounds weeny for a man but the first time I went to SYD I was just beyond amazed. Anyway, the flight out on a beautiful summer day and I am depressed as hell about going back to winter time in NYC. The last land I could see from the a/c window was Biondi Beach on very sunny day. Luckily, I was in a row by myself and started to cry but don't think anyone noticed.

Of course, every flight that I have taken to Oz since then has been completely full. Probably would have held it together better with many more paxs around me.

If you're sad, just go into the lounge and drink it dry to calm yourself down
The most sobering moments I've had at an airport were just before boarding my return on the BA HKG mistake fare of a few years ago. Not because I had loved HKG (which I did find quite interesting), but because I was dreading the prospect of another 13-hour long full flight in WHY!

I'm surprised nobody's posted this possibility yet (that happened to me once):

I was scheduled for a week-long business trip, leaving early Sunday morning. On Friday before the trip, one of my cats became visibly ill. I got her into the vet hospital asap where they diagnosed her as having organ failure from previously undiagnosed diabetes. They tried to stabilize her before I left for my trip, but early Sunday morning, literally as I was about to walk out the door, "The Call" came. It was truly horrible but I couldn't at that point cancel my business trip. I'm sure I was visibly sad but tried to hold it together through security and whenever dealing with people, but when I was sitting by myself in the gate and on the plane, I let myself cry quietly. I've never been able to hold in that kind of grief, but I tried not to be a disturbance to anybody around me.

I wonder what the TSA SPOT people think of that kind of thing.

That's exactly how I was. I was really worried about getting a hard time at security, just because that's how things had been going. Though maybe they see a lot of people who look like they had just been crying, obviously that has to happen at least kind of often at airports.

Did somebody die? Were you leaving for a long trip and it saddened you how you'd miss someone(s) very important to you?

Ah, if I were you, I would just cry no matter what... if TSA had a problem, well, screw them. We're human beings, and we have feelings. Although I have a feeling that some TSA screeners would actually feel bad for you and try to help you get through security as smoothly as possible - they're human beings too.

Why were you worried about being given a hard time for crying through security? Curious for your perspective.

Do you have difficult to remove piercings?

it was the TSA that made me cry, one of them called me a freakin wierdo for asking to have something to cover my bare feet having taken off my shoes(it was summer) I told the GA and he went to have a word with them, still wasnt all that pleasant before an overnight TATL

Crying? It happens to me all the time when i`m at the airport bar.
The 2 word- 2 phrase i dread to hear and i start sobbing
right away? 1. "Last Call" cause i`m too marinated and i missed
my flight! 2. "You`re cutoff" cause i`m really crying
and drinking more cause i actually did miss my flight!

This passage was only meant to lift spirits up because when you cry,
your only human no matter the outcome.