My Brilliant Idea
I think they should have walking vendors at the airports bringing around drinks and snacks...you know, the type they have at baseball games. There's a couple of reasons for this.
a) Some times the gate is so crowded that you don't want to give up your seat because you know when you come back there will be no seats so you'll have to uncomfortably lean up against a wall.
b) You have too much junk/kids to haul around. Let's say, I'm a single mom. I'm not but lets pretend. I'm at the airport waiting for my flight. I'm reading a book and my five year old son, Ramen (inside joke) is playing with his GI Joe. I decide I'm thirsty, but am i really going to pack up my book and disturb Ramen from a semi-contented state. Probably not.
c) you never really know when they are going to start boarding your flight. Some times its a half hour before scheduled departure. Sometimes its a half hour after your scheduled departure.
Anyways, if one or all of these situations is occurring and you decide you are hungry/thirsty, you are most likely to just decide to wait for the free plastic cup of gingerale and bag of peanuts on the plane. However, if there was a not too frightening looking person wandering around selling bottled water and snack mix, I'm willing to shell out the extra bucks for the convenience of the whole thing.