If You See a Red Ribbon on a Suitcase at the Airport, Please Try Not to Panic

Is there any way to make traveling during the holidays a pain-free experience? People of a certain age sadly can't remember a time when you could bring a full meal from your house to the plane. They also have no idea what it felt like to be able to leave your shoes on the entire time. What a luxury! Imagine packing a carry on and not having a care in the world about the status of liquids within. Those were the salad days of flying.

Despite all of that, there is something kind of magical about the airport. Maybe it's the joy that is often accompanying the trip itself. Perhaps it's all the little shops that inevitably carry the same things but somehow feel exciting all the same. Also, there is something to be said about truly having nothing to do but wait. Sadly, Netflix has released a film that strikes irrational fear into the hearts travelers. What does a red ribbon on a suitcase mean? Nothing much, until now!

Several people have run to TikTok, presumably as fast as Kevin's family did through the airport in Home Alone, to react to the sight of a red ribbon on a suitcase. It's a shame that we live in a world where a suitcase can't feel pretty when she travels. TikTok user @just_jirreh posted a video of a red ribbon tied to an industrial-strength trolley bag with text that reads, "God if this is my sign to stay home, just say that!!!"

Another TikToker filmed themselves rolling a suitcase through the airport that was decorated with, you guessed it, a red ribbon. They jokingly wrote in the caption, "Everyone kept looking at my bag, but they probably thought it was cute," said @asiansensazn. In what feels like an upsetting trend, another TikTok user said they were more or less keeping their head on swivel, looking for any black carry on bags with red ribbons tied to them. What is going on here?

In December 2024, Netflix released the movie Carry On which added a new layer of fear to one's travel plans. Evidently, they thought it was OK to do this since 9/11 was 25 years ago. The movie follows a young TSA agent, played by Taron Egerton, who is thrust into a terrorist plot orchestrated by Jason Bateman. The villainous Bateman uses Egerton's pregnant wife to get the distraught TSA agent to go along with his deadly scheme.

This plot involves Egerton getting a suitcase filled with chemical weapon bombs through security so Bateman's chilling bad guy can ferry it onto a plane. We'll give you one guess as to what's tied about this particular carry on's handle. That's right, it's sporting a red ribbon. Viewers who watched this movie then had to travel can't seem to stop scanning the airports for bags with red ribbons affixed to them. Don't worry, in all likelihood they are just marking their territory, not a bomb.