Baggage Claim Fever
by Debbie Jacobs
While you are reading this, thousands of people are crowding around the baggage claim area in airports throughout the world. They are standing so close to the carousel that the rest of the weary travelers behind them cannot see their bags, never mind get close enough to retrieve them. This has got to stop!
In the scheme of things it isn’t on par with dumping oil down storm drains or kicking puppies, but it causes me to seethe and mutter incoherently when I am part of the scene. I organize tours and frequently find myself at the baggage claim area, somewhere, throughout the year. It’s a shame that so many great trips have to end (or begin) at the airport baggage claim. I don’t mind flying, can deal with security lines, actually enjoy airport food, and use my limited seating space on board to focus on my posture, it’s the baggage claim area that gets my blood pressure rising.
Why is it that the average person, who is most often polite and friendly, suddenly becomes unwaveringly self-centered when they get to the baggage claim area? I once watched in shock and amazement as a young man, certainly strong enough to hoist his bags off the conveyor belt and move them 4 feet away, line up not just one but two baggage carts as close as he could get to the stream of baggage. The rest of the quick and bold hovered over the circling baggage as though they had one chance to grab their bags or never see them again. The rest of the passengers waited for their chance to squeeze into the fray, while the frail, elderly or disgusted stood on the fringes and hoped they could push through the bozos and carts when their bags passed by.
In situations like these I can be found off to the side, shaking my head and grumbling, planning my move. There is a satisfying thud that a piece of baggage makes as it’s being swung off the line and makes contact with the unmoving shins around it. This doesn’t say much about my courtesy level but that’s how serious I think this issue is for travelers. What is it that makes decent people crowd around the baggage claim like starving animals around a bloodied carcass? Do they think that someone else is waiting to steal their week’s worth of dirty laundry? Are they hoarding the extra minutes so they can enjoy sitting in the rental car or parking shuttle van for that much longer?
So how about it folks, stand back, step politely forward when your bag makes its appearance and then step back, leaving the rest of us with a clear line of vision.
I guarantee each and every one of you will get your luggage, and I promise not to aim for you when I grab my bag.
Debbie Jacobs lives quietly in Vermont. She’s not proud of her feelings or actions toward carousel vultures.