I remember being solely responsible for my own suitcase on
family vacations. And that was back before they had nice little
handles and wheels for easy hauling. I had the heavy, durable cases that by the
end of the trip were often concealing the extra booze my parents wanted to
bring back to Canada or my sister’s overflow shoes andclothes that she had
bought and couldn’t fit in her own bulging bag. What I’m getting at is it wasn’t
easy!
During one holiday in Europe we were late, as we often were,
and rushing to make the train in London to get to my Mom’s family in Blackburn.
The four of us were running down the station and I, being the youngest at 12 or
so, was tripping on my bag (which was nearly as big as I was) the whole way. Desperate to catch up to the bodies
that were becoming increasingly smaller as they pulled ahead of me, I grabbed my
suitcase, held my breath, and ran with my awkward carrying-a-heavy-bag gait. I
ignored the offending case, which by now was banging relentlessly against my bare
ankle, and finally made it to the door to board the train with seconds to spare.
I glanced down at my poor ankle, rubbed raw from the
continued pounding from the edge of my suitcase. Blood flowed from my ankle
bone and pooled in my shoe as the train pulled out of the station. It wasn’t
the first or last injury sustained because of tight deadlines and uncooperative
luggage, so Penny, consider yourself lucky and take the backpack gratefully!
Maybe you’ll never find yourself near tears, wrestling a giant suitcase as you
sprint down an English train station. Or at the very least your suitcase will
have wheels.
