Why do some people love eating at airports even when the food is average?
Excitement is an ingredient that never appears on the menu.
Airport food rarely wins awards.
Yet many travelers remember it fondly.
The hidden mechanism is anticipation.
A sandwich eaten before a vacation is not just lunch.
It is excitement, possibility, and the feeling that ordinary life is temporarily on pause.
People often think they remember flavors.
More often, they remember who they were becoming when they tasted them.
