In praise of... wheelie bags
If you see people pulling something behind them these days, especially during the holiday season, it is more likely to be a bag than a dog. The invention of the wheelie is one of those things - such as hard hats and shopping trolleys - that seem so blindingly obvious in retrospect it is a wonder it did not happen earlier. But it did not...
Not everyone approves, particularly those at the receiving end of a battalion of them thundering down the platform or collecting at the bottom of an escalator. One London blogger called them "the instruments of the devil" used by people who decelerate without warning and fail to signal before swerving in front of you. Clearly he thinks there ought to be some kind of driving test. But to most travellers they are one of those unsung inventions that make life a bit easier and reduce back strain. The past few days could have been even worse for the thousands stranded in airports as a result of the terrorism threat but for a pilot's bright idea less than 20 years ago.
Leader column, The Guardian, 15 August 2006 | Case study
Londoners have fallen in love with a new pet. These special travelling companions go everywhere with their mistresses and masters, always following on very close behind. They come in all shapes and sizes, they stand alert by one's side when not required and they have to be carried on escalators... I am of course talking about wheelie suitcases.
These instruments of the devil are everywhere across the capital, usually directly in front of you. I'm sure they weren't around in any great numbers a year ago, but now all of a sudden it appears that everybody has to have one... Many of those people manoeuvring wheelie suitcases around town have clearly never passed a driving test in their lives. They cut you up, they decelerate without warning, they fail to signal before swerving out in front of you, they block the path of oncoming traffic and they collide with your nearside without ever stopping to give you the address of their insurance company.
This blog, 8 September 2003 |
