If I Were King of the Forest
A five-and-a-half-hour flight, after sitting on the runway for an hour (let's play guess the airline!) gives one plenty of time to figure out all that is wrong with the world, or at least air travel. I used to think that when I ruled the world (don't worry, I'll let you know) my first official act would be to banish all children from air travel. But I have been blessed to avoid children on most of my recent flights, so I have moved on to a much more pernicious development: People bringing suitcases on to airplanes.
Why can't airlines make people check their luggage? I am not talking about small bags that you can sling on your shoulder, like notebook computer bags, knapsacks, or even those humongous bags women carry and call "purses." No, these are suitcases, so heavily packed that people wheel them on to the plane, can barely fit them in the aisle, need assistance to get them into the overhead compartments, and give those Samsonite gorillas hernias.
Today, I happened to look up just in time to see a woman get someone to put her "carry-on" in the overhead compartment after removing my jacket and dropping it on the seat two rows ahead of me. She just dropped it there without trying to find out to whom it belonged, and she contentedly took her seat without bothering to put it back. When I told her that I didn't appreciate her simply discarding my jacket or having her bag-o-bricks dropped on top of much smaller bag, which included my new notebook computer, she said... Well, I don't know what she said because she responded in a language with which I am not familiar. Like that's my fault, but that's a subject for another day.
So, I go back to my original question: Why don't airlines make people check their luggage? I know people don't like to wait for their luggage, especially in Philadelphia, where you are more likely to see Elvis sitting on the baggage claim belt within 30 minutes than any of your items. But, still, it is ridiculous to see what people are bringing on to planes now. And even more ridiculous that airlines, which seem to have no problem treating passengers as if they are Soviet-era refugees when it comes to other amenities, won't enforce their own rules when it comes to this.
Why can't airlines make people check their luggage? I am not talking about small bags that you can sling on your shoulder, like notebook computer bags, knapsacks, or even those humongous bags women carry and call "purses." No, these are suitcases, so heavily packed that people wheel them on to the plane, can barely fit them in the aisle, need assistance to get them into the overhead compartments, and give those Samsonite gorillas hernias.
Today, I happened to look up just in time to see a woman get someone to put her "carry-on" in the overhead compartment after removing my jacket and dropping it on the seat two rows ahead of me. She just dropped it there without trying to find out to whom it belonged, and she contentedly took her seat without bothering to put it back. When I told her that I didn't appreciate her simply discarding my jacket or having her bag-o-bricks dropped on top of much smaller bag, which included my new notebook computer, she said... Well, I don't know what she said because she responded in a language with which I am not familiar. Like that's my fault, but that's a subject for another day.
So, I go back to my original question: Why don't airlines make people check their luggage? I know people don't like to wait for their luggage, especially in Philadelphia, where you are more likely to see Elvis sitting on the baggage claim belt within 30 minutes than any of your items. But, still, it is ridiculous to see what people are bringing on to planes now. And even more ridiculous that airlines, which seem to have no problem treating passengers as if they are Soviet-era refugees when it comes to other amenities, won't enforce their own rules when it comes to this.
posted by FCB at 6:25 PM
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