I sold my car the other day. I wasn't really using it. This has forced me to deal with some day to day issues in a different way. Every month or so I would take the car to a large supermarket and load it full of all the heavy stuff I did not feel like carrying home from a more local store. This is no longer possible.
They make something for this application. A classified ad web site and $5 got me this:
It worked. It lacked both the capacity and the load carrying capacity of my car trunk. The solid wheels meant that I had to pay attention to avoid having the cart hit discontinuities in the pavement. Having to pay attention to the surroundings seriously detracts from a walk. It also had an associated old lady vibe. I am an old man. That is entirely different.
Here is my current grocery hauler after a triumphant trip out and back:
It is rated at 360 KG (800 lb). The pneumatic tires simply glide over discontinuities in the pavement. Once you get it up to speed you can hardly tell it is there. This is how a guy gets the groceries home from the store.
The wagon shown was originally sold as something to help with the incomprehensible things people do to interfere with the plant life in their yards. As a result it would be quite reasonable for people to assume that my super hot and high maintenance trophy wife had simply taken the BMW and left me with the shopping.
On the way home from my first shopping trip with the "garden cart" I had a realization that made me feel a little less superior to conventional shopping cart users. A light, two wheeled cart was simply essential to grandma's mission. The environment had changed in a significant way and I had not noticed. Grandma had to deal with curbs.
The local disabled community fought long and hard in the battle against curbs. Today there is not a single significant discontinuity from my stairs to the aisles of a supermarket 1.4 km away. That is kind of remarkable and represents a triumph. I now feel a bit bad about sitting out the conflict.
The morals to this story:
posted at: 12:58 | path: /politics | permanent link to this entry