Why do people have to crowd the baggage carousel?

I am a pretty seasoned flyer and far from an angry one, but there is one thing that always gets me at the ends of my trips: people who stand right up against the baggage carousel. 

Usually, travel is actually relatively enjoyable for me. I like the time to think or read or partake in a mindless game or movie. I don't mind bagging my liquids (I usually just try not to take any). Strip down to my boxers? Not a problem. I don't usually mind if my plane is late, as long as I'm not missing a connection. Screaming baby? I've got my noise cancelling ear phones.

But I'm not a pushover when flying either. I get annoyed by the guy who puts up the armrest and takes some of my space. I do mind having to pay extra money to check a bag. I am not a fan of children kicking the back of my seat. I think that's all pretty normal. 

However, the one thing that irks me that may not annoy other people is how people at the baggage claim carousel stand right up against it while waiting for their checked bags. Even worse are those people that don't move to make room for the bag that I am hauling from the carousel. They just stand there like dumb posts.

Let's consider the situation. Everybody at the baggage claim carousel is waiting to . . . claim a bag--and probably a relatively large and/or heavy bag. The carousel moves fast enough that you have, at most, 5 seconds to retrieve your bag. Every person there has to do this, and the task becomes much more difficult when you have to squeeze in and try to thread your up-to-50-pound bag between two people that you don't want to whack with your luggage--even though it would serve them right for being dumb posts.

Perhaps you see this as a simple first-come, first-serve situation, like at Starbucks. I admit that the ordering end is a first-come, first-serve situation. I arrived first, I get to put my order in first. However, at the other end, picking up my drink, social etiquette requires that I not crowd the pick-up area. I do not order, pay, and then jump directly into the line for getting my drink. I stand back with the understanding that drinks may not come out in the sequence they were ordered.  And this is a situation where drinks usually do come out in the sequence that they were ordered. If I did what people do at a baggage claim, it would cause chaos! OK, it wouldn't be that bad, but I would deservingly get weird looks.

I don't understand why this social rule breaks down at the airport.

At a baggage claim carousel, it is practically guaranteed that the first bag out will not belong to the first person that arrived. In fact, I'd say there are good odds that it doesn't belong to any of the people standing against the carousel, but people still insist on being right there for their bags. I say that they gain nothing, except my ire. 

My solution to my problem: everybody stand back one yard from the carousel. Then everybody can wait for their bag to come around, step up, easily retrieve their luggage, and leave. 

I know this sounds radical, but I think it is deserving of a study. If there has been a study that shows that crowding around the carousel and getting in the way of others is more efficient for everybody, I would actually feel great. Please, let me know. 

I might also justifiably be told to relax. After all, it's not like I'm losing a lot of time. What's a few more rounds on the carousel? I admit that I have no reply to this. It's true, but it doesn't excuse people from ignoring social etiquette.

Why is Notre Dame losing to Syracuse?

Every football season, I am probaby like every other Notre Dame fan and think that we have a shot at a National Title. Even after the worst season in history, there's a small piece of me that thinks miracles can happen during the off season. I almost expect them.

Sitting here, watching my team struggle again against a team that they are supposed to beat, I realize our problem as a program: we expect to win. I mean "we" as a fanbase, and it looks like "we" as a team. 

Gone are the days when we could expect to win a big game--or even a game against a team that is over .500. We are not the powerhouse we used to be. We don't deserve respect from other teams. We don't deserve to be on national television every home game. We are a mediocre team this year, beating up on poor teams; and we've been mediocre every year since 1993. There were  few 9 win and 10 win seasons, including Ty's first year when our defense and special teams carried us and Weis's first two years when Brady carried us over all the teams he should have.

No game today is a given, and it doesn't matter what team you are, but Notre Dame should be especially cognizant of this fact. We can be beaten at any time, as evidenced by Syracuse this year and Navy last year. The question is why?

It's easy to blame the players. They are the ones on the field, looking like they don't belong there. They are the ones blowing passes, catches, blocks, tackles, and coverage. They are usually the primary focus of the expletives I yell at the TV ("Tackle him!"). But blaming them is probably too easy. They are, after all, just kids despite the pressure placed on them by media, alumni, and coaches. And they aren't being paid millions.

Then there's the coach. We can blame Weis because he is an adult. He is given facilities, allowed to recruit great talent, and paid huge sums of money to produce wins. He is the leader, charged with putting players in the right frame of mind and providing a winning game plan. On the flip-side, maybe he doesn't have the talent, yet. But with three top recruiting classes in the last 3 years, I think we can eliminate this possibility. 

Maybe we expect too much from Weis. After all, we play USC and Michgan every year. However, we also play Stanford and Navy every year. Plus, the schedules have not been that tough the last two years. We don't play in the SEC or Big 12, and we have been softening our schedule for awhile. 

So, what should we do? Do we fire Weis? No way. If we weren't paying him so much, I'd say we keep him until his contract runs out. However, we are paying him way too much for not winning. He does deserve a shot though, so I say let him stay as long as his first and maybe second year of recruits are here. If he doesn't win a bowl by then, he should get the boot. He'll have had longer than Ty, but there is no reason in Hell that we should keep him as long as Davies. 

For millions of dollars, we should expect our coach to win; but our coach should never let the players expect a win.