Paying to be Considerate

Whenever I fly, I check my bag in. The reason is I detest all those people who abuse the carry-on policy. One small bag became one small bag plus carry on. Then the bag got larger. Women would not count their purse as a carry on. Grab a bag of McDonalds and a 32 oz Coke. That doesn’t count either. Now that it is winter, be sure to also add a heavy coat.

These people are causing planes to be delayed. Several people on my return flight missed their connections, because people are now bringing their life’s possessions into the cabin. I missed coming home 90 minutes earlier, because of this.

I used to just chalk these people up as inconsiderate. Now I have to blame the airlines. When jet fuel spiked, they added a baggage check-in charge of $15 ($30 round-trip for a single bag). Then customers just decided to cram everything into smaller bags to avoid the check-in fee. I’m hoping that next year when oil is lower and the airlines are begging for fliers that they drop that surcharge and start reinforcing the old carry-on rules.

The worst part is once the cabin is filled, those people can hand their bags off at the end of the runway, have them stored and returned to them – all without having to pay the baggage check-in fee. So I am now penalized for being considerate. Lesson learned. I’ll be a dick next time too and jam my crap into the overhead compartment. Mr. Business Traveler, I sure hope you don’t miss your important presentation. I tried to save the world, but failed.