Bag dissonance

The baggage claim area in airports is a fascinating place to me. I've been there a lot lately (which means that my work is causing me to travel a good bit these days).

In one airport I was distracted by what seemed a strange sight to me.

A very tall (maybe 6'6"?) cowboy with impossibly long legs, jeans, plaid shirt, big belt buckle, and boots was striding through the terminal. He was obviously a real rancher -- not the drug-store type at all. His skin was bronzed by wind and heat. His easy pace contrasted with his obvious strength and energy.

He was an interesting character (I love people watching) as he moved through the baggage carousels, searching for checked bags like the rest of us. You can imagine my surprise when he picked up a cute little red bag with white polka dots.

Then it happened again in another airport.

This time there was a trio of middle-aged guys. They were casually dressed in khaki shorts and pullover shirts. They were excitedly talking about where they were going together. The first one claimed a nondescript black bag. The next grabbed a dark blue duffel bag. The last fellow picked up a bright yellow bag with flowers on it.

What's going on with this?

Plane travel

Have you ever noticed the rules of plane travel? It's an intriguing segment of social psychology. I may write a brief how-to guide. Here's the outline of the chapters:

1. Ritual of boarding
only when it's your turn
look at people but don't meet eyes
fashion parade and the joy of human variety
2. Strategic bag placement in the overheads
for accessibility during flight
for protecting delicate contents
for rapid deplaning
little people with very heavy bags
3. Aisle sitters and window sitters -- and those poor folks stuck in between
talkers, readers, sleepers, workers, ipodsters and how to deal with each
close quarters but no touching (we hope)
4. Announcements and other ritual news
in case of a loss of cabin pressure
emergency aisles and whether you feel you can accept the responsibility
flotation devices over Kansas
5. The refreshment cart and other signs of hope
passing the cup
art of getting seconds
when it's acceptable to help pass the trash to the aisle
6. The trek to the toilet
how to look cool/professional/sophisticated when you need to go (badly)
tiny spaces: getting stuck, getting bruised
terrorized by inflight flushing
7. Blankets and pillows (finding them, claiming them)
magazine racks, inflight movies, audio for everyone
sanitary earphones
8. Seat backs and tray tables
acceptable use (no, you can't stack your stuff on my table!)
in case of broken tables/ seat backs/ lopsided cushions
full and upright positions
seatbelt extenders
9. Inflight magazines (and the ubiquitous Sky Mall catalog!)
what is the airline really telling me?
do you work the crossword or leave it for the next passenger?
10. This is your captain speaking
"making up time" -- the physics of flight and time travel
some turbulence (and other euphemisms)
11. Welcome to wherever
orderly disembarking
cell phone cacophony (in unison: "we just landed")
overheads/some shifting may have occurred
why your connecting flight is in another terminal
12. Thanks for choosing us
unclaimed baggage and other psychological problems