Maoraigh, I commiserate with you on the airport from which you fly. There are many similar around the world (my experience of tabard wearing jobsworths whose job it is to curtail aviation is Australia) and it may well be a contributory factor in why we do not see so many people hanging around. They are not allowed to.
I am in another country now and by judicious choice of airport I have found one where I can drive in without gate staff, take my dog, drive across a usually quiet apron and get to my aircraft. The reduction in stress for me after 40 years of security stupidity is amazing. Well perhaps 20 years, pre 9/11 at an international airport we could still walk from the aircraft across the runway threshold to the aviation club which was landside.
Glory days, by Bruce Springsteen sums it up