I’m doing a lot of travel right now, and keep noticing simple efficiencies that could make everyone’s life easier – not from the airlines’ standpoint, but from the traveler/passenger standpoint.
Here’s a couple of things I’ve noticed:
• Folks exiting security screening stop in a tight area, like a narrow aisle, to put on their shoes. Suggestion: move 2-3 feet further along, where you’re not blocking everyone behind you, and put your togs on then. Or slide over to the wall so that we can get by you.
• Ditto for adjusting your luggage, purse, camera, briefcase, etc. on the jetway. Move along into the terminal, THEN stop to position everything just so (or move aside to do this rather than right in the middle of the aisle).
• Understand the rules – overhead is SHARED SPACE. This means your newspaper, hat (yes, I’m talkin’ to you, Tex), purse, or other small item should be stowed under the seat rather than expecting everyone else to instinctively know that your hat needs 12.8” of space so the crown doesn’t get creased, or that your purse may have a mirror in it that could get broken, or that you’ll want that newspaper once we take off, so nothing should be put on top of it…. You are also more than welcome to leave it home, stow it in the seatback in front of you, or hold it on your lap. Really, we won’t mind.
• The airline is not nursery school. Your child who doesn’t know what “inside voice” means is NOT cute as he yells his observations loud enough to wake the dead (yes, Sammy, this is you). We all don’t care that the wheels on the bus go round and round, all the livelong day, nor do we want to hear this sung over and over AND OVER. This is what they invented coloring books, connect the dots, and portable DVD’s with earphones, and children’s Benedryl for. I’m not talking about crying infants here – I’m talking about 3 and 4 year olds who need to learn that they are not the center of EVERYONE’S universe, even if they ARE the center of yours. And 3-4 hours on a plane is a REALLY long time for us to put up with your child’s antics.
OK, reading this list over, I realize I’ve morphed from ‘efficiency tips’ to ‘pet peeves’. Maybe it IS time to get off the road for a while… 