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.