The Dilemma Of The Carry On

I get really introspective at airports and in planes. It’s just such a great place to observe all walks of life and their behavior. It’s also a place where I become hyper-conscious of my own actions and the influencing factors around them.

Last week I flew home from Washington DC and the day before I had to check-in. I clicked through the process and then got to a screen that said: “You don’t have a carry-on bag, want to purchase one for $50? It will cost $75 to purchase at the gate.”

I don’t remember booking my ticket with that detail, I had a carry-on bag I was planning to bring with me, and it caught me off guard. Ultimately I decided to roll the dice and try to bring my bag on the plane. If they had an issue with it, I’d have to pay an extra $25. If not, I saved $50. It was a bet I was willing to make.

That all made sense from a logical and logistical standpoint, but when I actually got to the gate I had an ethical dilemma. Was it stealing if I took my bag with me on the plane without paying? Did I feel like it was the wrong thing to do but I was choosing to do it anyway?

There’s a lot to consider in such a simple, everyday example a lot like situations we often find ourselves in. So here’s what I concluded: It’s a gray-area as to whether I’d call it stealing. It’s more like breaking the rules. If United Airlines wanted to enforce the rules I was prepared to pay. 

Here’s another important perspective: If I saw someone else breaking the rules and getting away with it, when I already paid, would I be upset? Maybe as a gut-reaction but ultimately would like to accept that they made their own choice, and I made mine, given the potential consequences.

I’d be lying if I said I feel great about it, but I also recognize it’s not a big deal. Life is tricky like that. At the heart of it, what’s most important, and what has certainly been the case for me, is leveraging the experience as an opportunity to learn more about myself, my beliefs, and my tolerances. Whether I made the right choice or not this time, I don’t know. But no matter the case, I took a step in the right direction for next time.

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