Have you ever Noticed?

[Marcelyn]

Have you ever noticed how people behave when they travel? We were on a plane recently and observed many people undo their seat belt (you can hear the click) as soon as the plane is on the ground but still moving toward the terminal. Then up they jump into the aisle preventing other passengers from reaching luggage and not offering help to elder people struggling to reach into those crowded airplane bins. Of course these people wait in the aisle several minutes until the pilot turns off engines, etc.and parks the aircraft.

I see these same people waiting for luggage and standing so close to the carousel no one else can see approaching bags. I've never figured out how standing right next to the carousel is a good idea for everyone. Noticed one female who pushed people aside so she could stand close to the carousel, finally she saw and grabbed her small bag, turned to leave but others would not move so she was trapped while people reached over and around her for their luggage. Poor thing was wild eyed after minutes of this activity.

There is one airport (maybe in Germany) where a yellow line on the airport floor marks how close passengers are allowed to stand while waiting for luggage. Everyone can spot their bag on the moving belt, step forward, take their possession, and leave.  Pretty efficient method.

Another scene in Africa was interesting. All luggage was taken off the airplane and dumped in one big pile. Seemed my lonely bag was always at the bottom of the heap. For my safety, I stood back and waited until other passengers had picked through this display. Funny how my luggage was never taken by mistake.

Just my observations of airport behavior.

 

[Woody]

Yeh!  It seems to me that airports and airplanes cause a kind of "road rage".  People block people trying to board, and people get aggressive trying to de-plane.  This is despite the fact that the plane departs at the same time regardless of when you got on it, and you will still wait at the baggage carousel regardless of when you got off of it.  I've got to believe that something about traveling makes people do rude things that are not usually in their character.

[Bonnie]

A lot of it, I think, is simple anxiety. When you have a connecting flight, for example, the inclination is to get up and out of your seat and get your luggage asap to get out, hopefully, before others start fumbling around for their luggage and clogging up the aisles. You are always ahead by being on the move, it's felt.  It rarely works as planes unload from front to back and you'll always take your turn when it comes. Getting on the plane as early as possible often has the advantage of finding a place for your luggage close to your seat. The baggage carousel behavior, it seems to me, is because if you miss your bag it takes so long to come around again. Especially after a long flight, people are ready to get out of there. Of course, none of this is worth the rudeness to others and stress on oneself.

[Twin Wolf Technology Group]

I think to some degree we do this to ourselves.   Do to some personal circumstances, I recently had to travel on 4 separate connecting flights around the US before getting back to Panama.   What I noticed was that since I had a several hour layover for each connecting flight, I had much less stress.   After all when you have a couple of hours to kill, who cares if you are first off the plane or last?   So, I always book slightly longer layover times between connecting flights - it eases the stress.   Maybe it is that Panama laid back attitude kicking in.

Another thought - why don't airlines put people with connecting flights toward the front of the plane?  Airlines know if you are connecting to another flight and time might be short.  It would seem a simple matter of seating those people towards the front to help everyone.   Seems like there are always a few people toward the back that are short on time to catch a connecting flight.

[Marcelyn]

Both Woody and Bonnie make good points about peoples' travel behavior. As I watched these various scenes at different airports, I was reminded of what my Mom used to tell me "don't listen to what someone says but watch what they do. Their behavior will tell you what kind of person they really are".

Strange perhaps, but the older I get the smarter I think my Mom was.

[Marcelyn]

24 minutes ago, Twin Wolf Technology Group said:

I think to some degree we do this to ourselves.   Do to some personal circumstances, I recently had to travel on 4 separate connecting flights around the US before getting back to Panama.   What I noticed was that since I had a several hour layover for each connecting flight, I had much less stress.   After all when you have a couple of hours to kill, who cares if you are first off the plane or last?   So, I always book slightly longer layover times between connecting flights - it eases the stress.   Maybe it is that Panama laid back attitude kicking in.

Another thought - why don't airlines put people with connecting flights toward the front of the plane?  Airlines know if you are connecting to another flight and time might be short.  It would seem a simple matter of seating those people towards the front to help everyone.   Seems like there are always a few people toward the back that are short on time to catch a connecting flight.

Good thought, Twin Wolf. I've been on a late arrival flight (because of bad weather) where the flight attendants asked everyone to stay seated until passengers with a tight connecting flight could deplane. 

[Marcelyn]

1 hour ago, Bonnie said:

A lot of it, I think, is simple anxiety. ....

On the anxiety topic, there was a fella in Hong Kong with a sick daughter (ill with leukemia). This extremely wealthy father tried to handle his anxiety by driving his Ferrari very, very fast in "New Territories" area of Hong Kong late at night. He simply paid the Royal Hong Kong Police a fat monthly fee because he didn't want to be stopped for tickets during his "therapy sessions".