Top 5 travel woes

Everyone likes to get away, but sometimes when people travel they forget to pack a little common courtesy. As the summer travel season heats up, we’ve begun stockpiling patience to deal with what have become our top 5 travel annoyances.

5. Clapping when the plane lands.

Seriously? It’s a pilot’s job to fly the plane – landing is included. My co-workers don’t give me a standing ovation every time I turn in an article – it’s my job. People are especially prone to clap when the plane lands on an island – it’s an island, people, not an aircraft carrier. 

4. The doors in airport bathroom stalls.

Dear airport bathroom architect: When you design the stall door to open inward, you’ve created one helluva life-sized puzzle. People who are traveling carry bags. It’s almost impossible to get into the stall without squeezing into that little space between the toilet and the wall. Then you’re stuck trying to finagle your bag through the gap just enough so you can close the door … and heaven forbid if you’re wearing a large backpack, forcing you to break into an awkward turtle dance. Switch the hinges and you might just earn an ovation.

3. People who crowd the baggage conveyor belt.

If everyone just took a few steps back, the entire group could readily identify their bags and retrieve them efficiently; they wouldn’t have to peer through the spaces between the people and force their way through to grab their bag before it sails past.

2. People who clog the boarding gate.
Flight attendants give pretty clear instructions: “Now boarding seating group 2. If you’re not in group 2, please remain seated until your seating group is called.”

I’m pretty sure they’ve never said, “Please block the area so everyone behind you thinks you’re in line,” but that’s what most people hear. Excuse me, ma’am, are you in line?

1. People who bum-rush the aisles as soon as the plane parks.

We boarded in an orderly fashion, why should exiting be any different? As everyone exits to the front – why would you, impatient guy behind me, think you should be in the front of the line right now?

This is especially annoying when you’re exiting the plane to board a bus that will take you to the terminal. There’s no prize for being the first on the bus.

Lately, Molly and I have resorted to the ol’ pick-and-roll technique: whoever is in the aisle seat gets up quickly to keep the impatient hordes in the seats behind us at bay while the other person takes their time to get all the bags. Ah, sweet, sweet traveling serenity.