In yesterday’s article “Travelers Weigh in on Policing Carry-ons” in the New York Times, Joe Sharkey said that he received 300 e-mails with complaints about overhead bins and carry-on bags. According to Sharkey, people are fussing right and left regarding other people’s carry-ons.
Reading the responses that Sharkey highlighted reminds me a bit of people’s complaints about other people’s driving. Instead of grousing about the lack of blinker use, people driving too close, people driving too slow in the fast lane, or too fast in the slow lane, or talking on a cell phone instead of paying attention to the road, people are turning other people’s carry-on bags into modern day travel hazards and symbols of human rudeness.
For example, one person suggested that with the amount of stuff people are cramming into overhead bins and the dangers of falling objects, wearing a helmet while flying isn’t a bad idea. He might have a point.
Here’s an idea. Like Sharkey also mentioned, maybe the airlines could rent helmets as a way to make more money. Hard hats, for that matter, could easily be decorated with an airline’s logo.