It’s really easy to lose sight of the human element in today’s air travel experience. It’s generally rushed and miserable. With ludicrous fees nipping at your heels everywhere you step among a minefield of “gotcha” clauses in the Contract of Carriage, it’s no surprise that people are in a sour mood as soon as they check in. And this is before experiencing the TSA circus that is all part of the modern security theatre experience.
So, by the time that you get on the plane, I can appreciate that you’re really upset to be delayed even further by someone in front of you, struggling to fit their overstuffed carry-on bag into the undersized bin on the plane. “That guy,” you think, while possibly snapping a picture and making a snarky Twitter post with a hashtag of #CarryOnShame. This is the latest mean-spirited trend in the already angry world of travel.
Several times over the past four years, “that guy” could have been me. Until very recently, I was living abroad. Last year, I lived in 3 different countries around the world (China, The Netherlands and Costa Rica) and each time, I brought my possessions with me on planes. Before that, when living in Beijing, I’d only get to come home 2-3 times per year. I’d make massive Costco runs, bringing back whatever small comforts of home I could carry on and fit in my checked bag and carrying on whatever I could. Most recently, I took another flight, again using my full baggage allowance. After a long time away, I am starting a new life back in my home country, which has become a mean-spirited place that I sometimes barely recognize anymore.
Nearly everything I own is in these bags.
Yes, I’m that guy. The guy with a carry-on bag that I had to sit on in order to fit everything inside. The guy who is using 52 pounds of his 50 pound baggage allowance. The guy who stretches the definition of “personal item” into “whatever I can get away with.” It’s really out of necessity. Airlines do not have reasonable prices for extra or checked bags on international flights so let me make things completely clear: in practice, the choice I have faced each time has been either to be “that guy” or to abandon my stuff and start over. Start over even more than I already am, in a country where I don’t know where or whether I can replace my stuff. Sure, I chose to move, you might say. This is true, but I don’t choose to make things any more difficult. The Calvinist notion that people should have to struggle because… well, because… isn’t one I buy into.
The next time you see a person struggling with an oversized carry-on, trying to fit it into the overhead bin, have a little empathy. Consider stopping to help instead of pushing past or taking pictures to post on Twitter with snarky hashtags. Sometimes life just doesn’t easily fit into a small carry-on bag.