Traveling these days seems to be a major civility challenge. It’s so easy to get irritated or impatient as you witness rude behavior and a lack of consideration. People cut in line, knock each other with their luggage, hog the armrest, make their fellow passengers miserable… it’s a never-ending list of grievances. Alas, I have one more to add to the list.
When you are flying with carry-on luggage, take pains to put your bag in the hold above your seat. On a recent flight all of the overhead space by me was taken up, so I had to stow my bag several rows back. This meant that I had to wait for everyone else to get off the plane so that I could move back down the aisle and retrieve mine. As I waited, I noticed passengers who had been sitting in the back of the plane grabbing their bags from the overhead space near me. For some reason they had just decided to use the first available space they saw, not considering whether it would be a nuisance for others.
If you are carrying a small bag or a jacket, wait until others have had a chance to put away their luggage before you add these lighter items to the mix. On another flight a woman refused to move her jacket to make room for a small suitcase. How inconsiderate!
We need to stop adopting this every-man-for-himself view. Traveling will always be miserable if we don’t stop to exercise a bit of civility and respect for our fellow passengers.