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Lugging my stuff into the New Year

It may be a New Year but as Wendy admits in Everything King, she's carrying a lot into it
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Lugging!

Definition:  to carry or drag (a heavy or bulky object) with great effort.

"she began to lug her suitcase down the stairs"

synonyms:

carry · lift · tote · heave · hoist · shoulder · manhandle · haul · drag · pull · tug · tow · transport · move · take · bring · convey · shift · fetch · hump · schlep · humph

It is the bane of my existence!

While some may dream of winning the lottery or buying a new house or taking an exotic trip, I want to (just once) walk out of my home with a small and not jam-packed, overly stuffed purse and nothing else.

Oh, to be one of those women with a teeny tiny evening bag with one lipstick and a cellphone.

I can’t imagine how that might feel, actually.

I’ve never done it.

I have never carried a purse that didn’t weigh at least 30 pounds. (And yes, I need it all!)

I hope there are no gentlemen out there questioning why women have so much stuff to carry. Most of the time the load includes your keys, glasses, phone, water bottle or wallet.

Add to the heft there are various shopping bags, gifts for whatever occasion, Tupperware containers to return to someone, shoes or slippers for once you get to the destination not to mention a snack for the trip. (A person could have a weak spell, y’know!)

Mothers must have muscles like the Hulk with all that plus a baby in a carseat with supplies. With multiple children or pets, the mind boggles.

We lug all of that to a second destination where we begin to gather more stuff, all of which is heavy, and proceed to lug it back home, lug it inside the home and collapse from lugitis. (I am sure this will be in the next dictionary update.)

If you travel a lot there is endless dragging of suitcases to and from destinations. 

I have never learned the art of travelling lightly. I did try once or twice and each time it led to disaster. 

Once I forgot my bra. Try going out, in public, without a bra to buy a bra. The struggle was real!

Then, the second time I forgot my jewelry. In my case, this was worse than being naked.

All this slogging has stretched my arms to ape-like length, left me lopsided and has no doubt shortened my lifespan.

My despair is so great and apparently vocal that I was gifted, this Christmas, with a basket on wheels. You’ve seen them, right?  A cart that can be collapsed for the car, bus, etc., but you push or drag it around with your stuff in the carrier part. 

To be honest, I was hugely embarrassed that it had come to that.

I will learn to appreciate it, I’m sure, but at the precise moment of the unveiling, it suggested to me that my best days must be behind me. I not only will continue to be lugging, but will now need assisted lugging. It was a vision I was not prepared to accept.

I expect I am just one of those people who will always have baggage.

I suspect, as I head off into the afterlife, I will want to take a bunch of mementos with me. I will want family photos, some of my Elvis collection, my favourite rings and earrings, and perhaps my charge card in case there is good shopping plus a cookie for the trip.

I will never be able to go anywhere unburdened.

Got to face it, I need the buggy.

I will bedazzle it, decorate it and name it.

Then, I shall lug it around with pride!


About the Author: Wendy King

Wendy King writes about all kinds of things from nutrition to the job search from cats to clowns — anything and everything — from the ridiculous to the sublime. Watch for Wendy's column weekly.
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