Wise Ideas

"Sully" Saves an Industry

Captain Chesley Sullenberger and his incredible flight crew saved a lot more than 155 USAir passengers last month when his ditched his disabled plane into the Hudson River.  He also seems to have saved the image of the deeply damaged airline industry.

As anyone who has flown in recent years can tell you, air travel has turned into a major crap shoot, and an expensive one at that.  First you pay an arm and a leg for tickets, extra baggage and even a cup of water, as the industry copes with fuel prices it can only pass onto its customers.  Then there's the endless delays, re-routings, missed connections, and non-existent customer service...not to mention the numerous nightmare stories of passengers literally taken hostage by airlines as they are forced to sit inside a packed airplane on a tarmac without explanation, service, or hope.

No wonder passengers are angry long before they get to the airport. 

In fact, these are precisely the reasons a brand new consumer rights group, the Association for Airline Passenger Rights, was formed last week, with hopes of not only improving customer service but also passing a federal Passenger Bill of Rights in Congress.

But all the lobbying, PR and marketing in the world can't do what Sully did in one frozen moment last month.  And I know this, because I saw the difference during two long cross-country flights I took during the past four days.

Flying from SF to Vegas, to Philly, to Pittsburgh to Chicago and back to SF with my family.....I saw evidence of a drastic change in passenger behavior.  Despite suffering through major delays, re-routings, and three boardings while stuck in our seats --- I saw customers reaching out to the flight crew and attendants with a kindness that's been absent for years.

Passengers were going out of their way to thank the captains and flight crews.  And even though flight attendants still had nothing more than pretzels and soft drinks to offer during a 9 hour flight....the passengers were curteous, pleasant and extending, even cleaning up after themselves after the long flight. 

I have no direct evidence to attribute this change in attitude to Sully and his crew.  Frankly, I didn't have the guts to ask the crews on all my flights if they thought there is a connection.  But considering the still crappy management of the airline industry, the continued flight delays, missed connections and what-nots --- I can only assume that one crew's heroics has given fliers a renewed sense of appreciation for the people who we trust to fly us from here to there without a second thought.  

Now, the airline industry just needs to live up to the example Capt. Sullenberger, his crew, and numerous other employees, have set. 

Flying "Family Style"

It's that time again.  The season when intermittent airline passengers (AKA: parents and their kids) jam the airports trying to get to grandma's house in time for the dysfunctional family fun to begin.  

Triple-A is predicting fewer people will be going over the river and through the wood this holiday season for obvious reasons.  In fact, as The LATimes reports, the Air Transport Association says air travel this Thanksgiving is down 10-percent as compared to last year. 

But if you thought fewer people means a more pleasant experience, you'd be wrong.  Airline cost cutting has resulted in fewer flights being offered, so those planes will still be packed. "Make no mistake: The airports will be busy and many flights will be 100 percent full,” James C. May of the ATA tells The NYTimes.  

If there's any industry in need of an marketing make-over it's the airline industry --- and that includes airports.  But even the best spin doctors in the business couldn't combat the negative and often well-deserved image the airline industry has built for itself.  Still - they try.  Sort of.

Take for instance the Transportation Security Administration's new "family lanes."  As CNN reports, TSA has expanded the 'family lane' concept to every airport security checkpoint in the country, and will direct not only families to those lanes, but also people who have 'medically necessary' liquids and gels in excess of current 3-ounce limits." 

And while the "family lanes" were probably supposed to sound "friendly" to consumers with kids -- they actually come off as punishment.  As CNN puts it, the "diamond" or "green" lanes are intended for "travelers who are unfamiliar with checkpoint procedures, or families who want to go through security at their own pace."  Translation - S - L - O - W!

Here's a news bulletin for TSA:  families want to get the heck through security as fast as everyone else, not "enjoy" the experience "at their own pace!"  Admittedly, when traveling with really young kids who refuse to get in/get out of their strollers or struggle taking off/putting on their shoes -- the "family lane" is a great idea.  But for those of us with kids who desperately need to be fed before boarding the plane, you can't get us through fast enough!

And speaking of boarding -- I've always wondered why most "passengers with small children" accept the offer to pre-board.  Parents with infants - I understand.  But what sane parent actually wants to spend that extra few minutes trapped onboard a airplane in an inhumanly tight space with a squirrelly, bored, crabby, hungry, tired, thirsty child or two? 

I've always tried to maximize my time OFF the airplane when traveling with my kids.  Yes, you've guessed it....we're the "active" family no-one wants to sit near.  Can you blame me for hanging back at the gate until everyone else has boarded?  Besides, it's not families holding up flights.  It's people trying to jam shipping crate-sized bags into the overhead bins!

Thank goodness President Bush has stepped in to help solve the crisis.  (No, not the economic crisis - that still accelerates unfettered).  In an announcement last week, the President announced he has opened up military air space over much of the country, allowing commercial jets greater access to quicker routes during the busy holiday travel season.  This is supposed to head off delays and prevent "It's a Wonderful Life" from becoming "The Nightmare Before Christmas."  (His words, not mine, as you can see on YouTube.)

Although falling fuel prices have slightly eased the financial pressure on the airline industry, no marketing strategy can cure what ails it.  However, there is a silver lining this year for airline executives.  They look positively charming these days next to the auto execs - who got a lot of heat on Capital Hill last week for flying three separate private jets to Washington to beg for $25 billion in taxpayer dollars.

However, you'll soon be seeing them in the TSA line.  And they'll be easy to recognize.  They'll be the ones whose tin cups won't be allowed through security. 

Air Bound

In the next few hours I will be flying in the not-so-friendly skies with my family, as we wing our way to the east coast.  And that feeling in my stomach right now isn't excitement....it's dread.

Air travel - once considered fun, thrilling, even sexy - has become an extremely unpleasant experience that probably won't even get you to your destination on time.  But even more maddening about this modern day airborne cattle call, is the annoying ding-ding-cha-ching sensation of being nickle-and-dimed to death. 

It's not just the infuriating $15 to $25 per bag charge, which the airlines sprung on us at the beginning of summer.  It's Jet Blue's recent decision to charge $7 bucks for a "pillow kit."  (Sure, they through in a $5 Bed, Bath & Beyond coupon...which if you don't rip it up in disgust you'll probably just lose anyway on the plane.)  It's also US Air's new beverage fees -- including $1 for soft drinks and water. 

And it's all those additional hidden booking fees, and impending changes in frequent flyer programs, which you can read about here in the Wall Street Journal. 

Heck, the hassle of going through TSA seems tame compared to the humiliation of actually flying on the airplane.  And there's no use getting mad.  Everyone is in the same uncomfortable position - including the poor pilots and flight attendants who face uncertain futures as well as passenger wrath. 

I'd love to just board the plane and sleep and read my way back east.  But unfortunately - I've got to deal with one last unpleasant fact of air travel:  I'm seated next to a chatty 7-year old who will talk during the entire flight.  But she is my daughter...and someone's got to sit next to her.  What I wouldn't give to trade seats with the CEO of United --- and see how he enjoys a cross-country flight with my family. 

On the Road Again, Part 3: X-Country Memories

Today Sarah, one of the mom's from my host website MomWise, wraps up her travel log recounting her family's cross country trip in their Prius.  I want to thank Sarah for covering for me while I am again on the road --- and congratulate all four of them for surviving their incredible journey.  Here's the final entry of Sarah's travel journal.

From July 17th

Greetings from our home state!

While we have not yet made it home, we have made it to Beautiful Lake Alamanor, California, where we are ending our vacation at one of the most stunning homes ever and we do consider the road tripping to be mostly over (275 miles to home...baby, that's nothin :). Hope you all will indulge me in a last tale of the road.

I do have two final general observations about the road, one about the US in particular. We are a bit saddened that the old towns are so hard to find...every stop along the way has shown us an historic, beautiful abandoned town several miles away from where the Big Box stores have taken all the business. It makes showing the boys Small Town America almost impossible. To wit -- we drove through two towns in Idaho hoping to find a diner for breakfast. Only Denny's/Waffle House, etc. On the third town, we scored and were the richer for it. But man, it's hard to do.

Life in a different hotel every night is rough on the body and psyche. You go to check out and have no idea what your room number was! You wake up and can't remember what town you're in. It has made our aspiring rocker, Henry, reconsider life on the road as a rock star. It has made me wonder how national politicians can keep it up. It's like an endurance sport.

Still, I would not trade this trip for the world, and am happy to say that it has been an incredible bonding experience. Though I know the boys will remember more about racing the luggage cart around the parking lot of a Kansas hotel, I am confident that pieces of this -- both historical, as US citizens and personal, as members of our family - will trickle through their minds for years to come. I also have to salute my co-captain David, who pulled out the stops when necessary to push it from fun to fantastic, or even from teetering-on-the-edge-of-disaster to bearable. :)

Here are a few parting highlights (and one lowlight):
•    Going to see Wall-E in Salina, Kansas where the movie theater doors were plastered with "No Guns" signs;
•    Scoring an unplanned but amazing Fourth in the town of Ft. Collins, Colorado (of Colorado State and Fat Tire fame), with a homey fireworks in a city park on a lovely night;
•    Cloudy Laramie, Wyoming, with a child with a stomachache, some lousy altitude sickness (me; the town is at 6,500 feet), doing laundry at the Laramie Laundromat. 'Nuff said.
•    Crossing into California at dusk on a quiet two-lane highway and pausing to take "the picture." Welcome home!

In all, we traversed 5,500 miles in our trusty little Prius. And here's where I have to give the hybrid plug. Total spent on gas? $457.

Hope you are all enjoying your travels.

Thanks Sarah.  My Montana cowboy hat is off to you and your family. 

I'll return in a few days time from Flathead Lake with some new posts.  For now, get off the web and enjoy your families!

On the Road Again, Part 2: X-Country Memories

Welcome back to part 2 of X-Country Memories - the travel blog of MomWise's Sarah and family from their cross country trip across America in a Prius.  Yesterday Sarah shared highlights of  the first portion of their trip from Washington, DC, Philly, NYC and Westport, Connecticut.

Today, the road takes a few new twists.  Herrrrrrrrre's Sarah:

From July 1, 2008

Hello from Steamy St. Louis!

I can't believe we are well into week 2 of this trip. I am using you all as a bit of my trip journal, though trying to keep a paper one as well. It is amazing how many memories go by and get created that you don't want to forget. We also now find ourselves saying things like "Was that in Cleveland? Or South Bend??" "Was that really only 2 days ago?!" Anyway, a lot has happened and it continues to be all good.

I must say one of my general observations is that seeing the effect of the economy, and in particular gas prices, takes on new meaning vs. staying in the Bay Area. Every radio ad is about saving money "due to the economy", every store has signs about how sorry they are to be raising prices given "how tough times are for all of us," etc. I feel like these Americans feel the pinch way, way more than many of us, and feel it as a collective community. If I may wear my political heart on my sleeve, it makes me feel more than ever that this country needs a dramatic change in leadership to re-engage and offer hope.

The second thing we as a family notice is the amazing amount of food served at every restaurant and the commensurate size of the population. The concept of obesity is alive and well and living in Ohio, Indiana and Southern Illinois. Smoking, too. A little staggering to our bubble based life.

But it continues to be an amazing trip filled with great memories. Here are some highlights from this round:
•    The extreme natural beauty of Niagara Falls juxtaposed with the extreme poverty of its US town and tackiness of its Canadian town on either side (and a half hour drive through another country for the boys)
•    An impromptu Cleveland Indians game (vs. SF Giants, coincidentally) and the fun of a rain delay -- a novel concept for us San Franciscans (and the fact that the tickets were given to us by a family who decided not to go at the last minute due to impending thunderstorms. We saw them again in our hotel the next morning to find out they live 5 blocks from us in SF!)
•    Crossing Indiana in the twilight through a Mennonite community with several Amish horse and buggies along the road with us

Now, we find ourselves at the "luxury stop..." While David and Henry are in the mosh pit at The Warped Tour as we speak, Christopher and I have just left the pool at the Four Seasons and are writing this from the business center! :)

From here, we leave for parts unknown. No agenda, but a family meeting tomorrow to map out possibilities. As such, computer access may not come again, or at least for sometime. We wish you all a Happy Fourth. It is an incredible summer for us to celebrate America's birthday, as we cross much of it and understand close up the vastness of our country and its people.

Sarah will return tomorrow with her third and final installment in On the Road Again:  X-Country Memories. 

On the Road Again: X-County Memories

Sarah, one of the moms of my host website MomWise, is dropping in as guest blogger for a few days this week, as I am again on the road and nowhere near a high speed Internet connection. (Yoo Hoo!)

Sarah and her husband recently returned from a 5-week cross-country trip from Washington, DC back to their hometown of San Francisco with their two boys, Christopher and Henry, ages 10 and 13.  Gas consumption? No worries - they did it in a Prius. Albeit with NO DVD player.  My family wouldn't have made it across the country alive.  However, they are an amazingly functional family which I have a great deal of respect for.  The following are excerpts from her travel blog. Enjoy!

Monday, June 23rd

Hello all,

Thought I would drop in, say hello, and catch you up on our days since leaving SF (and having computer access for the first time in 8 or 9 days...didn't miss it at all!). We've been on the road since last Saturday and are having a ball. All has gone extremely well, including the safe arrival of our little Prius at 8am last Monday in DC. We still feel like we are just on an extended East Coast vacation, but know that will change once we stop heading north and start Heading West.

 We've been to DC, Philly, NYC, and several wonderful homes of friends and family in upstate NY. We arrived last night in New Hampshire and are staying in my sister's beautiful new/old house. Some highlights have been:

•    A great day of sightseeing in DC -- we all voted the Jefferson Memorial as our favorite
•    Regis and Kelly in NYC (me and Christopher and the rest of middle America)!
•    A "hard hat" dinner at CityWinery, our friend’s new venture, which will be the first NYC winery (really! quite cool!)
•    A pit stop in Mamaroneck, NY (Westchester), home of "Archie Enterprises," at Christopher's request, which was really nothing more than a large garage and distribution center. When David (my husband) explained that Christopher was a huge Archie fan from California, they took an envelope, filled it with Archies, and handed it to him. He was in heaven!
•    A great morning in Westport, CT, my hometown, including a visit to the cemetery where my parents are buried, and a drive by my old house. Has not yet been McMansioned...phew!

We're using New Hampshire as our Boston base and, rain withholding, will be at Fenway tomorrow night to see the Red Sox. From here we amble toward Chicago via the Great Lakes. More adventures await.

Tune in again tomorrow for the continued cross country adventures of Sarah and her family.  And remember -- they did it without a DVD player!

Ode to the Minivan

When the news broke last week that Chrysler, the creator of the minivan, planned to close one of its minivan assembly plants this falI, I was in my minivan ---- packed to the gills with bikes, golf clubs, coolers, fishing poles, suitcases, swim towels, sleeping bags, pillows, duffel bags, backpacks, DVDs, iPods, cell phone chargers, snack foods, map, guide books and --- oh yes -- my family.

"Minivans," The Chicago Tribune announced, "have joined pickups and sport-utility vehicles on consumers' least-wanted list."  High gas prices, no surprise, are being blamed for a double-digit decline in minivan sales, which started slumping more than a year ago.  In fact, the death of the minivan was predicted nearly three years ago at a car European car show by executives at Toyota --- as reported here in in old Washington Post article, and which I wrote about in my former blog, The Kitchen Think, 17 months ago. 

Least wanted vehicle? Quite possibly. Best vehicle for an active family of four-plus?  No doubt.

If I cared what I looked like driving my minivan....I wouldn't be driving it.  "It is a vehicle that is decidedly unglamorous, but sturdy and utilitarian, much like the soccer mom at the wheel," says the Washington Times.  And despite the fact that I've seen some pretty glamorous soccer moms in my time, the WaTimes is right on.  "The minivan says many things. Among them, I have kids, the kids have friends and we all have lots of stuff."

And after traveling five-plus days and 2237 miles in our family minivan - I can unequivocally say that it is the only vehicle on the road than could have handled the load we carried comfortably, or economically  Not even one of those gi-normous Suburbans or Denalis or whatever mountain range moniker-ed-vehicles could have done it....at 22 miles per gallon.  

"It's not about the dynamics," Tom Murphy - executive editor of Ward's AutoWorld tells the WaTimes.  "You can't beat the versatility. If you have to haul seven people around, there is no more efficient way to do that," says Ward - who is an admitted minivan owner.

So what if it costs $75 to fill up.  Its side doors open automatically, its mid-section seats separate to prevent sibling sister- or fratricide.  The kids can stand up in the back, stash all their junk in the thousand of pockets cleverly provided, and safely cradle their juices, water bottles and (bad mom alert) soda cans in convenient cupholders.  And I can easily stow the back seats and load bikes without breaking my back or my skull.  And I can't leave out the DVD player - which saved my sanity during our 14+ hour each way drive to Wyoming.

Even if gas prices go to $5 a gallon (probably just months away), I plan to drive my minivan into the ground. And I'm sure I'm not the only minivan owner with similar plans.  The American mom's need (desire is too strong a word) for a minivan is evident over at HybridCars.com, which reports that "a group—strike that, a mob—of car shoppers wanting the utility of a minivan and the fuel efficiency of a hybrid are airing their demands for a hybrid minivan on the HybridCars.com discussion forum and elsewhere."  According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, more than 18,000 consumers signed a petition to Toyota asking that a hybrid minivan be brought to America.  Toyota currently sells a hybrid minivan in Japan called the "Estima."

But the only minivan hybrid on the horizon, according to HybridCenter.org, is the Toyota Sienna 7-seat Hybrid.  Estimated arrival on U.S. car lots?  "2009 (if at all)" says HybridCenter.  In other words - don't hold your breath.  Which means vacuum out the interior, scrub all the dead bugs off the exterior, clean the sticky stuff off the seats, sanitized the steering wheel, keep up with maintenance schedules and make sure your tires are inflated and aligned correctly.

Because that unsexy minivan of mine is going to stay in my driveway for a few more years to come. And that's just the way I want it.

What I DIDN'T Do On My Summer Vacation

Normally on May 1st - I would have my entire summer planned and fully arranged.  Vacations booked, kids camps scheduled and paid for, even cat hotel reservations and deposits made. 

But this is not an average year.  This is the year the economy ate my summer plans.

And it's probably eaten some of your summer plans, too - according to a new federal report.  Buried beneath the economic mumbo-jumbo of this week's Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index survey, government economic analysts found that "the percentage of respondents intending to take a vacation over the next six months has fallen to a 30-year low, another sign of consumers turning more cost conscious." 

Duh. 

The Wall Street Journal even came up with a name for it this week:  The Subprime Summer Vacation (subscription required).

I started modifying our family's summer plans about a month ago, when I decided we would drive the family van to Wyoming instead of fly (heaven help us!).  As I noted in a blog I wrote at the time called Summer Gas Pains, I explained that driving would not only be thousands of dollars cheaper than flying....but that with bankruptcies and mergers rampant in the airline industry, travelers can't risk booking flights to small destinations which can disappear off an airline's schedule at the drop of a suitcase.

In the past month, it seems the entire travel industry has shifted marketing strategies to address the crappy economy...an 11th hour attempt to lure cash-strapped families into NOT giving up their summer vacations.  As you can read here at SmartMoney.com, everyone from big hotel chains to small bed & breakfasts have started offering gas incentives to potential summer guests. 

The article, written April 14th, says that "Hoteliers' biggest concern is that, should gas hit a nationwide average of $3.50, guests will start canceling reservation en masse."

BTW - the nationwide average hit $3.61 this week.

There may, however, be one segment of the travel market that isn't suffering yet.  A dear friend of my husband's, Mindy Goldenberg Valenci and her sister Lauren founded and run The Family Traveler, and business isn't slow.  In fact, just the opposite.  "As family travel specialists...we are experiencing an increase in business as families pay more attention to how they are spending their vacation dollars," Mindy tells me.  "Families realize that travel agents have access to travel bargains and specials that may not be available to the general public."

And although Mindy says some her repeat clients are traveling in the same style as in previous years, others are turning to The Family Traveler for creative ways to save money.  Mindy's main money saving tip?  "Be flexible in your travel dates and destinations," the bargains are out there, and you deserve a vacation!

So as the economy worsens, gas prices near $4.00 per gallon and people consider their travel options, the travel industry will likely be offering even more deals to ensure you get the summer vacation you deserve, and undoubtedly need.  Which is in part why people are delaying booking summer travel.

And that - in turn - has created something most parents haven't seen in a decades -- openings at summer camps.  As the Associated Press reported this week, parents are "waiting longer to register their children for summer camp," as they try to determine what they can and cannot afford this summer.  According to the AP, some parents are cutting back or - when possible - cutting out summer camp completely.  Because it's entirely possible that for an urban family with two kids - a week of full-day camp for both costs the same as a family flight to a summer vacation destination. 

And those are exactly the kind of "either-or" decisions parents are making this May. 

Currently, my family is planning two trips:  1) a car trip  to Wyoming to stay in a condo for a week - a trip, incidentally, that was purchased at the school auction so the money went to a good cause, and  2)  a flight to Montana to stay (free) at the lakeside cabin of some dear friends.

However, because of these two trips, we've decided that our kids will be spending the rest of their summer at Camp MJ...which will involve a test of patience and wills in the morning while mom works, so we can go play in the afternoons. 

The good news:  the kids and I will get to spend some quality time together this summer.

The bad news:  I hear the head counselor at Camp MJ gets realllllly crabby by the end of summer. 

Summer Gas Pains

While top oil company executives on Capitol Hill yesterday were casting blame elsewhere for record gas prices nationwide -- I was casting blame right back at them for some "modifications" I'm making on our family's summer vacation plans.

In a strange twist of fate, those modified plans will require that I spend a lot more time traveling in the car, filling up with $4 a gallon gas, and pushing my endurance level to the limit by spending hours at a time trapped in a vehicle with my restless, loud kids and husband.  I may not survive.

That's because domestic airline travel this summer to smaller destinations like Jackson, Wyoming and Kalispell, Montana are going to cost us more than it would probably cost to fly to Europe (and no - Europe's out of the question due to the dismal dollar exchange rate).

As The LATimes reported recently, summer airfare bargains are taking a holiday, due primarily to rising fuel costs.  In fact, it's even worse than that.  "Airlines are cutting flights, adding fees and fuel charges, trimming frequent-flier benefits and reducing customer service personnel, particularly at airport counters," says The Times. 

That is - if the airlines are still flying by summer.

In case you've missed this week's airline news:

• Aloha Airlines said "aloha," ceasing operations because low-cost carrier Go!has successfully cut Aloha out of business
• Delta Airlines fires 2,000 employees, or four percent of its workforce.
• Delta then starts imposing a whole raft of higher fees on a whole host of travelers, including its frequent fliers, those traveling with pets, unaccompanied minors, and those who book tickets over the phone
• United started charging $25 for a second bag.
• Then Delta started charging $25 for a second bag.
• Not wanting to be the odd-airline out, Northwest Airlines will soon start charging $25 to check a second bag
• Delta, United, Northwest and American have all cut domestic flights this summer

Bottom line:  it's going to be a bumpy ride for the airline industry this summer, according to Forbes.

However, it's going to be even a bumpier ride for all of us in our aging family vans as we head out on the highways this summer.  Romantic road trip?  Not! Jack Kerouac took drugs on the road, and he didn't even have kids!

Perhaps the way to get the robber barrons....er....oil company executives to stop passing higher oil prices onto consumers, is to force them to ride in cars with vacationing American families this summer.  That kind of torture will have them crying "Uncle" before the first bathroom stop.

Are we there yet?

Who's Packing?

I've got about 25 minutes to spend on this blog today....and about the same amount of time to pack before I take the cat to the cat hotel, pick up the kids at school, drive to the airport, park, stand in line, go through security, and finally board our 3:23 flight to Seattle. 

And the Transportation Safety Administration is urging me to pack more neatly.  Yea - RIGHT!

TSA, the same agency that requires two year olds and 90-year old seniors in wheelchairs to take off their shoes after they've been patiently waiting in line for their turn to be wanded and frisked, has launched a campaign this heavy holiday travel season asking fliers to "simpliFLY" their packing procedures so we can all move more quickly through security.   

SimpliFLY?  I'll be lucky if I get around to actually pack for myself.  You see - I'm still packing for three.  I just can't bring myself to trust my 7 and 10 year olds to bring things they actually need versus things they think they need - clothes versus stuff animals, for instance.  My husband, god bless him, is on his own.

So in the midst of this chaos to get out of the house and enter the chaos of the airport...a bunch of federal transportation guys decide to suggest that I "pack an organized carry-on bag using layers – a layer of clothes, then electronics, more clothes, and then other items like toiletries. This will help security officers see what's in your bag," and ultimately speed things along for the millions in line behind you.

Here's the picture from the TSA website, showing examples of good packing in layers with expertly wrapped cords  - and bad "loose and cluttered" packing:

And although I could conjure up my inner neat-nik and pack my bag to look like the first picture --- do you think it's actually going to stay like that after being thrown around the van, dragged by a couple of kids, and sat on in the security line?  It may start out like Picture A...but chances are that by the time it gets to the TSA folks, it'll look more like Picture B.

So good luck with your new campaign TSA.  I know you've got a very tough job and you're just trying to help.  But I must say, the government urging the people to do a better job at something?  Now there's an ironic twist. 

Happy and safe traveling.