Top pet peeves of travelers

Is travel really as miserable as people make it out to be? USA Today has a new tally of the top pet peeves of frequent travelers.

Before going into this list, I want to say that I've spent weeks on the road on book tour and, as a general rule, I found most airline employees and passengers to be pleasant. I flew coach on just about every airline in the marketplace over the past weeks and months. Only rarely was I lucky enough to be upfront of the plane.

But it looks like I'm nearly alone in my optimistic take on air travel. Here is what bothers travelers most, according to USA Today:

• Loud cellphone conversations.
• People who disobey the rules and try to carry on too many bags or carry too much liquid through security.
• People who play music so loudly, even with earplugs or headphones, that others can hear it.
• Disrespect that passengers show to flight attendants and gate personnel.
• Parents who don't try to control their children.
• People who think the "turn-off-all-electronics" message is not for them.
• Passengers who carry on and eat messy or smelly food.
• People who board with multiple or oversize bags and fill the bins in the front of the cabin when they're seated in the rear.
• Reclining a seat in a tight coach cabin.
• Leaving a window shade open when everyone else has closed theirs and is trying to sleep.

In the end, I think you have to realize that we're not traveling across country by covered wagon any more, or having to deal with hostile populations and diseases of all kinds during a monthlong trek. We have it good. We get on the plane in one part of the country and get off in another a few hours later. And what we pay is cheaper today than 30 years ago, inflation adjusted. I think that's a deal!