T oday， when you are about to board an American airliner， you have to prepare for two possibilities： one， the overhead bin above your seat is full and you have to stow[裝載] your carry-on bag elsewhere. Two， the overhead bin is too small to fit your presumably[大概] regular-sized carry-on luggage. Even though you have tried many ways—horizontally， vertically， on the side， upside down， punching and squishing[壓扁]—and a flight attendant may come to assist you， your bag simply won’t budge[移動].

On my recent international trip， I experienced the same quandaries[窘境] on a United flight. Since I am not disabled or a mother with babies， I could not board the plane with priority. In fact， I boarded way behind for my coach-class seat.

Compared to Asian airliners， the overhead bins on the American planes are higher. Perhaps the North Americans are really taller. I can barely reach the latch on the overhead bin， let alone lifting up my 30-pound backpack. So I had to excuse myself for taking off my shoes and standing on the aisle seat. I then awkwardly lifted my backpack and pushed it into the overhead bin. In the past I did not stow my bag so smoothly. One time， with the help of a tall man who sat across from me， we two people managed to tuck[塞] my backpack in a compartment several rows down.

After I was seated， I saw a few more passengers having trouble stowing their carryon bags. Sometimes it was not because a passenger had an oversized carry-on bag， but it was because an early-bird passenger had stashed[存放] all his belongings in the overhead bin. The compartment was far from fully used. You couldn’t do much about it other than keep looking for empty space for your carry-on luggage.

All in all， I think the frustration of traveling by air in America appears greater than that in China. I can check at least two pieces of luggage free on a Chinese airline. But the U.S. airlines charge for checked bags. Before I might become a victim if a piece of oversized carry-on luggage fell on my head， and before I waste too much time and energy to figure out how to economically pack my suitcase in order to avoid the extra baggage charges， I may just be better-off choosing a non-American airline to travel next time.