He is correct, but I, a man (or, at least, a reasonable facsimile of one), violate his rule sometimes and take a suitcase when all I really need is a shoulder bag.
However, I never take the suitcase onto the passenger deck. I always check it.
And I am pretty sure I have never run someone's foot over, and if I did, it must have been a mute or a mime.
And I am pretty sure I have never run someone's foot over, and if I did, it must have been a mute or a mime.
If you did run over a mime's foot, it's his fault for not putting up an invisible wall to stop you.
"Soldiers in ’Nam got by with less gear than the average executive now packs for a two-day trip."
should be noted.. if you can't haul it, learn to do with less.
also, he's correct about the limited utility of those wheeled bags, as well, they often do nothing but weigh more and take up, otherwise, ususable space in a given footprint..
plus, most of those 'roll-alongs' are an ergonometric nightmare, I'm surprised that OSHA hasn't yet banned them..
Snark about old women with limited muscle strength? Invocation of *sotto voice* soldiers in 'Nam *dum dum dum* as an ideal? Complete and utter oblivion about the effect of business clothing mandates on the extra space needed by a woman to pack the makeup, dress shoes, and extra outfit required for a two day business trip on which a guy can simply rewear his suit and the dress shoes he can travel in?
Wow, the holiday stress is really getting to some people, I see.
All I ever take for carry-on these days is my laptop satchel (that qualifies as the "personal item") and a small luggage tote that is well below the maximum carry-on size. It readily holds a couple books, a spare change of socks and underwear in the event my luggage is lost, a spare sweater in case the destination turns out to be colder than expected, and maybe a small snack or water bottle purchased in the concourse area before departure.
Everything else -- electronics, hygiene, etc. -- goes into checked luggage, so that I don't have to split hairs with an irritable TSA agent over whether bottle 'x' is larger than the minimum threshold necessary to recreate the Manhattan Project on my seat tray.
It read to me like it was obviously written by an asshole.
It's fascinating that Stevenson's high-stakes travel to mud-caked, monkey-infested shit-holes makes rolling luggage inconvenient. Perhaps, then, he should book passage on tramp steamers, zeppelins, or other conveyances that don't require contact with the average business traveler. He and his gang of efficiently-packed adventurers could then doff their fedoras, pore over their sepia treasure map, and tut-tut at those rubes who think that having unwrinkled clothes ready for next morning's meeting is more important than winning the approval of a bunch of self-superior jackasses.
A guy who thinks that much about other people's luggage isn't the sophisticated, ready-for-anything traveler he pretends to be.
No one should ever have to bring a piece of luggage into the cabin of an airplane. In the old days no one did. It's the deterioration of the baggage-handling infrastructure and the desire of people to save ten minutes at the baggage claim (which they lose waiting for all those bags to be jammed into the overhead bins) working in tandem in a race to the bottom.
Either we need to ban any carryon larger than a laptop case (and fine airlines that don't deliver baggage within X minutes of pulling up to the gate), or we need to bow to the inevitable and have the passengers load and retrieve their own baggage in the cargo compartment (as some small airlines do).
The article is a bit irritating, but I share some of his feelings about rolling luggage. Most all of these pieces have handles that are too short for me, and the wheels are so small and close-set that the whole thing is tippy.
Even if you don't buy into the whole travel-like-a-soldier thing, and I don't, nine times out of ten I'd rather just carry the bag. Wheeled bags are nasty for that, though, since they start out with a weight penalty. Packing lightly in one of them is an exercise in frustration.
As a guy, it's not that big a deal to just haul the bag. It's easier than stooping through the airport with a wobbling cart behind me. However, it's true that not everyone at the airport is a guy, and Seth S. can't compel people to carry their stuff, in much the same way none of us can compel them to get out of our way
I think Megan's point is that men have two advantages that reduce their need for wheeled luggage:
1. We can travel lighter. I have no need to carry an emergency supply of tampons. Under the existing social rules, I can wear the same clothes everywhere except to bed; women can't. Very few women over 22 will go out without using make-up from a kit that weighs several times as much as my electric razor - and many of them carry razors, too.
2. Men are stronger.
OTOH, thirty or forty years ago everyone had to carry as much or more (better materials have made many items lighter), and yet there was no such thing as wheeled luggage. If you had heavy suitcases, you hired a porter or gritted your teeth and carried them. (Or, if you were female, you batted your eyes at some male sucker...) So why do you need them now?
Finally, the first time I saw a wheeled suitcase (in 1978) left an unfavorable impression that will last a lifetime. I had just enlisted in the Air Force at the Detroit joint armed forces intake center, and was on my way to the air port bus along with the other new recruits. I was carrying a gym bag with one change of underwear, a toothbrush, and a razor, and enough room left over to store the clothes I was wearing once the AF issued uniforms and everything else we'd use for the next several months. And along came this small young woman towing a wheeled suitcase that must have outweighed her. Where did she think she was going???
Look, I understand suitcases on wheels. But *backpacks* on wheels? I see lots of those every day on the Metro. And they're intensely annoying: they're hard to get around (essentially they triple the user's "footprint") and easy to trip over, because one tends to look up, not down, in Metro stations.
At a minimum, people, carry your wheeled backpack in the Metro.
I hate rolling luggage. It's the umbrella of airports - effectively doubling everyone's width and choking every hallway, ensuring that no one can walk on the escalators or slidewalks, and generally being a nuisance. If more people tried to get by with what they could pack in a shoulder bag, we would all be better off.
That said, the former ideal was two or three steamer trunks or travel armoires, plus several servants to carry them, so maybe a couple roller bags is an improvement.
"No one should ever have to bring a piece of luggage into the cabin of an airplane. In the old days no one did."
I don't trust the TSA baggage handlers. I know too many people who have had things stolen out of their luggage. Secondly, I've had my luggage delayed enough times that I can't trust I'll have it the next day. Lastly, some airports have 10 minute long waits others are a 30 minute wait or more at baggage claim.
I don't trust the TSA baggage handlers. I know too many people who have had things stolen out of their luggage. Secondly, I've had my luggage delayed enough times that I can't trust I'll have it the next day. Lastly, some airports have 10 minute long waits others are a 30 minute wait or more at baggage claim.
Seconded.
I'd also add that it may be hard to guess why people are traveling, how long they'll be traveling, etc. I have one large-ish piece of rolling luggage (which I check). I feel that one big piece of rolling luggage is warranted, since my business trips last weeks and months at a time.
I realize that's not the norm, but it's something I try to keep in mind when I'm tempted to appoint myself an expert on the packing habits of other travelers. How the hell do I know where they're going, how long they'll be there, and what they'll need when they arrive?
I once had a dying car that I could no longer reliably start. One day, due to parking enforcement, I had to transfer it from one side of the street to the other. Naturally, it didn't start that day, so I tried to push it in a tight u-turn. A moment later, I looked down to see that the rear wheel was resting on my foot. Fortunately, it was just a CRX, so I just kept pushing it and went on my way.
I received a piece of wheeled luggage as a hand-me-down from my parents, but I have yet to use it. Why? Two reasons:
1) Maybe I overpack, but I can never seem to fit more than a day's worth of stuff in that little space. The duffel bag is far superior, IMHO.
2) The brand of the bag they gave me: "Amelia Earhart." No joke. Talk about bad marketing; that would be like selling "Titanic" brand deck chairs or something.
Perhaps, then, he should book passage on tramp steamers, zeppelins, or other conveyances that don't require contact with the average business traveler. He and his gang of efficiently-packed adventurers could then doff their fedoras, pore over their sepia treasure map.
If came out to about one week for just under a thousand dollars, (and included sipping good brandy) I would totally sign up for a vacation like this.
The article was obviously not written by a guy travelling to Japan with his wife and two young children, one two years old and one an infant.
No toes were crushed, no ankles broken, no shins were scraped.
Yes, the bag was checked. No, you can't buy clothes or shoes to fit me over there - not outside the PX anyway, and I was a civilian...
No, the Shinkansen didn't stop in what is now East Hiroshima, but once was a tiny farm town called Saijo. It's not the one Google Earth finds, don't bother... Try changing trains in Hiroshima, you still had to haul the 800 lb suitcase up the steps, but at least you can roll it the rest of the way.
The in-laws lived a good way from the train station, and I've seen wider sidewalks than the road up the hill to their house. The taxi drivers are wonderful and worth every penny.
No, we couldn't go home without souvenirs, and books and other assorted heavy stuff.
Did I mention the sick wife and kid and non-refundable tickets to make the trip home interesting?
Wheels saved my life.
For business, I've one softsided bag that holds a week's worth of clothes. I've never needed or taken more.
The author of the article got one thing right: not one of those leaping to the defense of rolling luggage has admitted to inconveniencing anyone else. It's always about their side of the story, and no other.
My pet peeve about wheeled luggage is the people who take said luggage through the subway and then, at the staircase, stoop over to hoist it upon their shoulders, thereby backing up the entire gaggle of people behind them.
Personally, I lift it up and sling it over my shoulders, as if it were a duffel bag as I approach the staircase.
I concede that, as a man, who works out somewhat regularly, my musculature is such that this process is about as effortless as, say, slinging my gym bag over my shoulder.
You know, if a woman actually did wear her previous days attire, she might come to find that men pay more attention to the words coming out of her mouth than the buttons on her blouse. You can't argue that women are "supposed" to dress a certain way, and then ignore the implications (or, turned on its head, the implication of sexism is that women must dress nice; in that case, the ball is in your court--the world doesn't change without effort.)
There are certain types of men and women who like to dress well, and dress up, even when circumstances would ordinarily give them a free pass. Either way, don't lay the stress and burden at others' feet, nor use it as an excuse.
I've worked with many men and women who were, relatively speaking, unfashionable and maybe even somewhat sloven dressers. They usually fell into two camps (if they did at all--such stereotypes are usually useless): highly driven, intelligent, dedicated people who choose not to waste time in front of the mirror; or someone you should fire. The difference is immediately noticeable when you interact with the person. The implication is that, if you feel you must dress up so often, maybe you fall into the latter camp. Because if you fell into the former, what's the difference? For all its faults, American culture does favor egalitarianism over aesthetics; more so than most cultures I've come into contact with.
Note that both men and women are equally guilty of this, IMO, although the traditional accoutrements required by detrimentally vain women are, granted, more voluminous. In fact, any insinuation that women bear more of a burden is almost offensive (though not quite; I'm inclined to give the benefit of a doubt, though I feel sullied). Walk into any office building and the proportions of men and women who dress to any particular degree of fashionableness is quite equivalent, particularly once you factor out any latent hiring or structural biases (Cf. secretaries).
You know, if a woman actually did wear her previous days attire, she might come to find that men pay more attention to the words coming out of her mouth than the buttons on her blouse.
Hint: they're not looking at the buttons, and they won't notice if the buttons change.
If came out to about one week for just under a thousand dollars, (and included sipping good brandy) I would totally sign up for a vacation like this.
The first draft of the comment included a bottle of Scotch, if that's close enough. Now that I have the pitch down I just need to find the zeppelin and/or tramp steamer.
The author of the article got one thing right: not one of those leaping to the defense of rolling luggage has admitted to inconveniencing anyone else. It's always about their side of the story, and no other.
Talk about rude.
I didn't notice the author of the article admitting to inconveniencing anyone else. Maybe by hashing out a rough draft of his inane article by bitching to the person trapped next to him on a flight from New York to... wherever it was he had to tote his tiny duffel across monkey-infested mud puddles.
Travel's inconvenient and annoying. You're thrown together with people whose habits aren't necessarily appealing to you. Between getting annoyed by it and just accepting it, I've found that acceptance works better.
The fetish for wheeled luggage has gotten to the point that very small bags, more like briefcases than suitcases, now come in wheeled versions. I should know, as I frequently (and literally) run into them in the train station.
JB is right. Anyone who travels with the expectation that they will never be inconvenienced is delusional. There is no convenient way to sort large numbers of people into dozens of different tightly cramped metal cylinders. Your fellow travellers are not perfect specimens of strength and agility, nor can they flawlessly predict the correct path through the airport maze. Arrive early and wait your turn like everyone else.
Cause only men use rolling luggage?
?
He is correct, but I, a man (or, at least, a reasonable facsimile of one), violate his rule sometimes and take a suitcase when all I really need is a shoulder bag.
However, I never take the suitcase onto the passenger deck. I always check it.
And I am pretty sure I have never run someone's foot over, and if I did, it must have been a mute or a mime.
And I am pretty sure I have never run someone's foot over, and if I did, it must have been a mute or a mime.
If you did run over a mime's foot, it's his fault for not putting up an invisible wall to stop you.
"Soldiers in ’Nam got by with less gear than the average executive now packs for a two-day trip."
should be noted.. if you can't haul it, learn to do with less.
also, he's correct about the limited utility of those wheeled bags, as well, they often do nothing but weigh more and take up, otherwise, ususable space in a given footprint..
plus, most of those 'roll-alongs' are an ergonometric nightmare, I'm surprised that OSHA hasn't yet banned them..
It is a great article nonetheless.
Cause only men use rolling luggage?
Cause only men dickwag the way this article does.
Snark about old women with limited muscle strength? Invocation of *sotto voice* soldiers in 'Nam *dum dum dum* as an ideal? Complete and utter oblivion about the effect of business clothing mandates on the extra space needed by a woman to pack the makeup, dress shoes, and extra outfit required for a two day business trip on which a guy can simply rewear his suit and the dress shoes he can travel in?
Yeah. Male. Also a--hole.
It is a great article nonetheless.
Yeah, if by "great" you mean "an object lesson in how to condense a bunch of travel-writing clichés into a few hundred words."
Wow, the holiday stress is really getting to some people, I see.
All I ever take for carry-on these days is my laptop satchel (that qualifies as the "personal item") and a small luggage tote that is well below the maximum carry-on size. It readily holds a couple books, a spare change of socks and underwear in the event my luggage is lost, a spare sweater in case the destination turns out to be colder than expected, and maybe a small snack or water bottle purchased in the concourse area before departure.
Everything else -- electronics, hygiene, etc. -- goes into checked luggage, so that I don't have to split hairs with an irritable TSA agent over whether bottle 'x' is larger than the minimum threshold necessary to recreate the Manhattan Project on my seat tray.
I think the name "Seth" really gives it away that it's a man.
That article is a bit of a snoozer and the tone makes you want to grab him, break him in two, and beat him with himself.
This article is so obviously written by a man.
It read to me like it was obviously written by an asshole.
It's fascinating that Stevenson's high-stakes travel to mud-caked, monkey-infested shit-holes makes rolling luggage inconvenient. Perhaps, then, he should book passage on tramp steamers, zeppelins, or other conveyances that don't require contact with the average business traveler. He and his gang of efficiently-packed adventurers could then doff their fedoras, pore over their sepia treasure map, and tut-tut at those rubes who think that having unwrinkled clothes ready for next morning's meeting is more important than winning the approval of a bunch of self-superior jackasses.
A guy who thinks that much about other people's luggage isn't the sophisticated, ready-for-anything traveler he pretends to be.
No one should ever have to bring a piece of luggage into the cabin of an airplane. In the old days no one did. It's the deterioration of the baggage-handling infrastructure and the desire of people to save ten minutes at the baggage claim (which they lose waiting for all those bags to be jammed into the overhead bins) working in tandem in a race to the bottom.
Either we need to ban any carryon larger than a laptop case (and fine airlines that don't deliver baggage within X minutes of pulling up to the gate), or we need to bow to the inevitable and have the passengers load and retrieve their own baggage in the cargo compartment (as some small airlines do).
Either way we save time and ankles.
The article is a bit irritating, but I share some of his feelings about rolling luggage. Most all of these pieces have handles that are too short for me, and the wheels are so small and close-set that the whole thing is tippy.
Even if you don't buy into the whole travel-like-a-soldier thing, and I don't, nine times out of ten I'd rather just carry the bag. Wheeled bags are nasty for that, though, since they start out with a weight penalty. Packing lightly in one of them is an exercise in frustration.
As a guy, it's not that big a deal to just haul the bag. It's easier than stooping through the airport with a wobbling cart behind me. However, it's true that not everyone at the airport is a guy, and Seth S. can't compel people to carry their stuff, in much the same way none of us can compel them to get out of our way
I think Megan's point is that men have two advantages that reduce their need for wheeled luggage:
1. We can travel lighter. I have no need to carry an emergency supply of tampons. Under the existing social rules, I can wear the same clothes everywhere except to bed; women can't. Very few women over 22 will go out without using make-up from a kit that weighs several times as much as my electric razor - and many of them carry razors, too.
2. Men are stronger.
OTOH, thirty or forty years ago everyone had to carry as much or more (better materials have made many items lighter), and yet there was no such thing as wheeled luggage. If you had heavy suitcases, you hired a porter or gritted your teeth and carried them. (Or, if you were female, you batted your eyes at some male sucker...) So why do you need them now?
Finally, the first time I saw a wheeled suitcase (in 1978) left an unfavorable impression that will last a lifetime. I had just enlisted in the Air Force at the Detroit joint armed forces intake center, and was on my way to the air port bus along with the other new recruits. I was carrying a gym bag with one change of underwear, a toothbrush, and a razor, and enough room left over to store the clothes I was wearing once the AF issued uniforms and everything else we'd use for the next several months. And along came this small young woman towing a wheeled suitcase that must have outweighed her. Where did she think she was going???
Look, I understand suitcases on wheels. But *backpacks* on wheels? I see lots of those every day on the Metro. And they're intensely annoying: they're hard to get around (essentially they triple the user's "footprint") and easy to trip over, because one tends to look up, not down, in Metro stations.
At a minimum, people, carry your wheeled backpack in the Metro.
I have no need to carry an emergency supply of tampons.
Unless you're in a dangerous area and might need one as emergency first aid for a gunshot ...
(I take no credit for being clever, I saw that in a movie once)
I hate rolling luggage. It's the umbrella of airports - effectively doubling everyone's width and choking every hallway, ensuring that no one can walk on the escalators or slidewalks, and generally being a nuisance. If more people tried to get by with what they could pack in a shoulder bag, we would all be better off.
That said, the former ideal was two or three steamer trunks or travel armoires, plus several servants to carry them, so maybe a couple roller bags is an improvement.
"No one should ever have to bring a piece of luggage into the cabin of an airplane. In the old days no one did."
I don't trust the TSA baggage handlers. I know too many people who have had things stolen out of their luggage. Secondly, I've had my luggage delayed enough times that I can't trust I'll have it the next day. Lastly, some airports have 10 minute long waits others are a 30 minute wait or more at baggage claim.
Bringing up gender difference (like citing Deborah Tannen et al) is such a chick thing to do.
I don't trust the TSA baggage handlers. I know too many people who have had things stolen out of their luggage. Secondly, I've had my luggage delayed enough times that I can't trust I'll have it the next day. Lastly, some airports have 10 minute long waits others are a 30 minute wait or more at baggage claim.
Seconded.
I'd also add that it may be hard to guess why people are traveling, how long they'll be traveling, etc. I have one large-ish piece of rolling luggage (which I check). I feel that one big piece of rolling luggage is warranted, since my business trips last weeks and months at a time.
I realize that's not the norm, but it's something I try to keep in mind when I'm tempted to appoint myself an expert on the packing habits of other travelers. How the hell do I know where they're going, how long they'll be there, and what they'll need when they arrive?
The universal rule for travel: take half the clothing and twice the money that you think you'll need.
Speaking of running over people...
I once had a dying car that I could no longer reliably start. One day, due to parking enforcement, I had to transfer it from one side of the street to the other. Naturally, it didn't start that day, so I tried to push it in a tight u-turn. A moment later, I looked down to see that the rear wheel was resting on my foot. Fortunately, it was just a CRX, so I just kept pushing it and went on my way.
Just thought you'd all like to know.
I received a piece of wheeled luggage as a hand-me-down from my parents, but I have yet to use it. Why? Two reasons:
1) Maybe I overpack, but I can never seem to fit more than a day's worth of stuff in that little space. The duffel bag is far superior, IMHO.
2) The brand of the bag they gave me: "Amelia Earhart." No joke. Talk about bad marketing; that would be like selling "Titanic" brand deck chairs or something.
Perhaps, then, he should book passage on tramp steamers, zeppelins, or other conveyances that don't require contact with the average business traveler. He and his gang of efficiently-packed adventurers could then doff their fedoras, pore over their sepia treasure map.
If came out to about one week for just under a thousand dollars, (and included sipping good brandy) I would totally sign up for a vacation like this.
Worse than being male privilege, it's TAB privilege: temporarily able-bodied.
"This article is so obviously written by a man."
Such an unnecessary comment was so obviously written by a woman.
The article isn't so much about luggage as lack of consideration for others--a national epidemic.
The article was obviously not written by a guy travelling to Japan with his wife and two young children, one two years old and one an infant.
No toes were crushed, no ankles broken, no shins were scraped.
Yes, the bag was checked. No, you can't buy clothes or shoes to fit me over there - not outside the PX anyway, and I was a civilian...
No, the Shinkansen didn't stop in what is now East Hiroshima, but once was a tiny farm town called Saijo. It's not the one Google Earth finds, don't bother... Try changing trains in Hiroshima, you still had to haul the 800 lb suitcase up the steps, but at least you can roll it the rest of the way.
The in-laws lived a good way from the train station, and I've seen wider sidewalks than the road up the hill to their house. The taxi drivers are wonderful and worth every penny.
No, we couldn't go home without souvenirs, and books and other assorted heavy stuff.
Did I mention the sick wife and kid and non-refundable tickets to make the trip home interesting?
Wheels saved my life.
For business, I've one softsided bag that holds a week's worth of clothes. I've never needed or taken more.
The problem is rude people.
The author of the article got one thing right: not one of those leaping to the defense of rolling luggage has admitted to inconveniencing anyone else. It's always about their side of the story, and no other.
Talk about rude.
not one of those leaping to the defense of rolling luggage has admitted to inconveniencing anyone else.
For my part, that's because I've never been inconvenienced by someone with rolling luggage.
My pet peeve about wheeled luggage is the people who take said luggage through the subway and then, at the staircase, stoop over to hoist it upon their shoulders, thereby backing up the entire gaggle of people behind them.
Personally, I lift it up and sling it over my shoulders, as if it were a duffel bag as I approach the staircase.
I concede that, as a man, who works out somewhat regularly, my musculature is such that this process is about as effortless as, say, slinging my gym bag over my shoulder.
MouseJunior,
You know, if a woman actually did wear her previous days attire, she might come to find that men pay more attention to the words coming out of her mouth than the buttons on her blouse. You can't argue that women are "supposed" to dress a certain way, and then ignore the implications (or, turned on its head, the implication of sexism is that women must dress nice; in that case, the ball is in your court--the world doesn't change without effort.)
There are certain types of men and women who like to dress well, and dress up, even when circumstances would ordinarily give them a free pass. Either way, don't lay the stress and burden at others' feet, nor use it as an excuse.
I've worked with many men and women who were, relatively speaking, unfashionable and maybe even somewhat sloven dressers. They usually fell into two camps (if they did at all--such stereotypes are usually useless): highly driven, intelligent, dedicated people who choose not to waste time in front of the mirror; or someone you should fire. The difference is immediately noticeable when you interact with the person. The implication is that, if you feel you must dress up so often, maybe you fall into the latter camp. Because if you fell into the former, what's the difference? For all its faults, American culture does favor egalitarianism over aesthetics; more so than most cultures I've come into contact with.
Note that both men and women are equally guilty of this, IMO, although the traditional accoutrements required by detrimentally vain women are, granted, more voluminous. In fact, any insinuation that women bear more of a burden is almost offensive (though not quite; I'm inclined to give the benefit of a doubt, though I feel sullied). Walk into any office building and the proportions of men and women who dress to any particular degree of fashionableness is quite equivalent, particularly once you factor out any latent hiring or structural biases (Cf. secretaries).
You know, if a woman actually did wear her previous days attire, she might come to find that men pay more attention to the words coming out of her mouth than the buttons on her blouse.
Hint: they're not looking at the buttons, and they won't notice if the buttons change.
If came out to about one week for just under a thousand dollars, (and included sipping good brandy) I would totally sign up for a vacation like this.
The first draft of the comment included a bottle of Scotch, if that's close enough. Now that I have the pitch down I just need to find the zeppelin and/or tramp steamer.
The author of the article got one thing right: not one of those leaping to the defense of rolling luggage has admitted to inconveniencing anyone else. It's always about their side of the story, and no other.
Talk about rude.
I didn't notice the author of the article admitting to inconveniencing anyone else. Maybe by hashing out a rough draft of his inane article by bitching to the person trapped next to him on a flight from New York to... wherever it was he had to tote his tiny duffel across monkey-infested mud puddles.
Travel's inconvenient and annoying. You're thrown together with people whose habits aren't necessarily appealing to you. Between getting annoyed by it and just accepting it, I've found that acceptance works better.
The fetish for wheeled luggage has gotten to the point that very small bags, more like briefcases than suitcases, now come in wheeled versions. I should know, as I frequently (and literally) run into them in the train station.
Thirty-five comments down into this thread, and nobody has figured out how to make a clever Segway crack yet?
(That wasn't it, either.)
JB is right. Anyone who travels with the expectation that they will never be inconvenienced is delusional. There is no convenient way to sort large numbers of people into dozens of different tightly cramped metal cylinders. Your fellow travellers are not perfect specimens of strength and agility, nor can they flawlessly predict the correct path through the airport maze. Arrive early and wait your turn like everyone else.
it was very bad