If you’re the type who loves a long, lingering farewell at the airport, like something out of an old movie, be advised that Dunedin, New Zealand, is not the place to do it.
The small coastal city on the country’s South Island has made some new rules about bidding adieu to your loved ones, and a lot of people are very unhappy about it.
The Dunedin, New Zealand airport has implemented a 3-minute time limit on goodbye hugs.
“Max hug time 3 minutes,” a sign at the airport’s drop-off area reads. “For fonder farewells please use the car park,” which has a far more generous 15-minute time limit.
The change is part of the airport’s ongoing expansion efforts, and its Chief Executive Dan De Bono told Radio New Zealand that he and his team wanted to take a “light-hearted” approach toward the change.
“We’re trying to have fun with it,” he said. “It is an airport, and those drop-off locations are common locations for farewells.” But light-hearted isn’t exactly the response his initiative has elicited.
The airport’s leadership says the change is an effort to make the airport safer and more efficient.
“We’ve relocated the drop-off zone to improve traffic flow and safety around the terminal,” the airport said on its website. “By shifting it, we reduce congestion and make it easier for passengers to be dropped off safely.”
The time limit is part of this initiative, which De Bono says will keep traffic moving more efficiently. We’ve all experienced those horrible snags at the airport drop-off line, of course.
In comments to Radio New Zealand, De Bono added that studies have shown that just 20 seconds is long enough for a hug to produce positive emotional benefits such as the release of the so-called “love hormone” oxytocin.
He also said that the initiative is intended to make sure everyone has the opportunity to say their goodbyes, explaining that the traffic snags caused by lingering farewells often result in others having to skip goodbyes entirely. “There’s no space left for others,” De Bono said, adding that the new rule “is about enabling others to have hugs.”
Still, the new rule has resulted in a lot of angry responses from those who think it goes too far.
“You can’t put a time limit on hugs! That’s inhumane,” read a comment on a Facebook post about the new rule that went very viral, in part because of how angry it made some people.
“Tyranny should be responded to with united disobedience,” another comment read. “Government and corporations need to be reminded that this is our world and not theirs. They don’t own us or it.”
That’s a bit overwrought — we’re talking about kisses at an airport drop-off line here, not human rights abuses. And hey, it could be a LOT worse — airport congestion is so bad in the U.K. that airports in major cities like London, Manchester, and Edinburgh actually CHARGE for the privilege of dropping someone off at the airport, let alone giving them a lingering three-minute hug.
Plus, as many pointed out here in the States, if you tried to have a three-minute hug on the departure line, Babe, you’re going to JAIL — once they’re done towing your car, that is!
As one commenter put it, “You get 3 minutes to hug?? In America, they don’t even want you to stop. Just come to a slow roll and push your passenger out.” Yep, pretty much!
John Sundholm is a news and entertainment writer who covers pop culture, social justice, and human interest topics.