Exiting off an airport escalator one dark and weary midnight, I happened to trip over the enormous roller bag of a traveler just ahead of me. As he turned to glare at me for daring to bump his bag and violate his personal space, I discovered the answer to a question that had troubled me for some time: my irrational dislike of wheeled luggage.
I am one of the last people in the Western world to carry my luggage rather than pulling it behind me on wheels. Any visit to the airport or train station has become a tactical mission to avoid colliding with fleets of bags clattering along behind their generally clueless owners. Some intrepid travelers have not just one or but wheeled conveyances in tow—each with a pile of smaller parcels clinging on like baby chimp. Many are talking on their cell phones as well.
What’s wrong with roller bags? Until that fateful night, I lacked any coherent rationale for disdaining this hugely popular and remarkably clever object. After all, roller bags prevent back injury while allowing people to bring along three seasons of clothing on an overnight trip. Why pack light when you can pack with wheels? Why lug your luggage when you can roll it instead?
The traveler in question (let’s call him Roller Bob) was angry with me for not being aware of his suitcase. Yet Roller Bob was as oblivious of his own luggage as I was. The very appeal of roller bags lies in their ability to escape the attention of their users (and thus to transfer said awareness to the pedestrians all around them). Roller bags let people forget how much they’re carrying—until someone trips over the hulking load behind them. Like iPods and BlackBerries, roller bags wrap their users in a cocoon of oblivion.
There’s nothing wrong with roller bags per se. The object is perfectly brilliant, but when people use it, they slip into a state of mobile stupor. Good object; annoying behavior. Indeed, the roller bag is one of many handy gadgets that expand the reach of one’s personal space, from cell phones and SUVs to umbrellas, hoop skirts, and extra-large sun hats. People who employ such conveyances can minimize their impact on those around them by staying alert to the extra space they and their objects occupy. EL
Alternative conveyances for the overloaded traveler
WIDE LOAD
RIDE-ON LUGGAGE
FREQUENT FLYER
ROLLING FURNITURE Objects equipped with wheels are marvelously convenient—and potentially dangerous. Using your Aeron chair as a step ladder is frowned upon in even the most adventuresome workplace. The basic rolling library stool has a brilliantly simple interface: the rubber rim descends to lock the wheels when you stand on the stool. (Mobile step ladders use the same principle.) Clean the rubber rim occasionally to keep the brake functioning.
ROLLING BACKPACKS Parents today are compelled to buy roller backpacks for their kids to prevent stress injuries caused by the enormous pile of books they need to haul around each day. Perhaps the real issue here is too much homework. If kids weren’t so overloaded with take-home duties, maybe they wouldn’t need to drive their books to the bus stop.
ROLLING CHILDREN Children are not yet bred with built-in wheels (or brakes), but they clamor for mobility just like the rest of us. Heely shoes, which faithfully appear under countless holiday trees each year, offer a high-speed enhancement for the slow child. Unfortunately, these shoes work best indoors, where 100-meter stretches of unobstructed flooring are tough to come by. Thus children on wheels are often sighted at malls and airports shortly after Christmas. Caution: your kid might get run over by a suitcase.
ROLLING WATER TANK While people in developed nations are eagerly attaching wheels to every conceivable object, rolling conveyances of any kind are in short supply in many parts of the world. In rural Africa, countless people live long distances from clean water. The Q Drum, designed by P. J. and J. P. S. Hendrikse in South Africa in 1993, is both a container and a simple wheel. (If you think your overnight bag is too heavy to lift, try carrying seventy-five liters of water two miles home to your family.)
HABITAT OF THE ADULT MALE
