Pick it Up

OK  —  snap quiz, everybody.

  1. Who wrote Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony?
  2. Who is buried in Shakespeare’s Tomb?
  3. Why is it called carry-on luggage?

If you got (3) wrong, I believe we’ve met. Frequently.

You’re the one  — usually female  — who boards the plane trailing a roll-on case roughly the size of Pennsylvania, and then stands helplessly blocking the aisle until someone else  —  usually male  —  lifts it into the overhead compartment for you.

“Someone else” is often a gentleman of a certain age. They tend to have better manners…as well as bad backs, dodgy hips or pacemakers. If one of them collapsed while lifting your new refrigerator, it could just spoil the hell out of your vacation.

So next time, bear in mind the answer to (3): it’s called carry-on luggage because you’re supposed to be able to carry it.

TRAVEL ADVISORY. Tote that barge, lift that bale…and grow up, girls.

 

3 Comments
  1. Bitching is good for the soul, the constitution, the complexion.
    You can add: the removal of free music from United…..the lack of any complimentary nuts or other nibbles (alsoUnited)”””””the fact that most stewardesses are unkempt, snarky, fat, old, unattractive…..that in an effort to save luggage costs, pack their “carry ons” and back packs so crammed with stuff, that when they turn around they can knock you for a loop…..and much much more.

    • I agree. And here’s another one closer to home, just for you: a four-and-a-half-star hotel in Denver that provides an in-room coffee-maker with cardboard take-away cups. And no bathrobes. Seriously.
      There’ll be future bitches about airlines…but we’re dealing here with abominable tourists. Any suggestions?

  2. OK, now we have Real travel commentary. I find this timely and interesting. Two summers ago I was travelilng frequently on American carrier Southwest Airlines. Bags fly free. They are known for quick turnarounds on the ground – planes make no money while sitting on the ground. In the midst of my SW travels I flew Delta – where checked bags cost you $$. I boarded with my real carry on after having checked one bag. Boarding felt like it took a month. I was getting irritated and thought ‘SW doesn’t take this long.’ Then it hit me – everyone was trying to beat the $25 first bag and $50 second bag fee. So they were craming refridgerator sized ‘carryons’ into the overhead and taking forever to get settled. I wonder if the airlines figure out how much money that they lose because of the added boarding time versus what they receive from bag fees. Hmmm.

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