Rucksacks

Rucksacks (or backpacks as I keep being corrected) are without a doubt handy things to have around. I've made the swap from handbag to rucksack for work and my right shoulder is definitely happier.  I throw in my lunch, my purse, phone, keys, and on days I'm feeling energetic, my gym stuff too.  It's a very practical way of carrying stuff.  But while the pros definitely outweigh the cons, I've come across two definitive hurdles - bus journeys and getting stuck in freezers.

Bus journeys are normally made easier with a rucksack, mainly because everything I have is in one bag rather than three.  But on a rammed bus, standing up because there are no seats, a heavy bag on your back can prove tricky.  Especially when the bus driver insists on slamming on the breaks. The thing is, with a heavy bag on your back and a bus jerking around all over the place, gravity tends to work against you.  I get thrown about and often the only thing that stops me falling over is the other passenger that I inevitably crash into.  Imagine if there were no buffers.  I'd fall on my back and that's where I'd stay.  Like a tortoise.  Legs and arms waving around and rocking helplessly from side to side.  The shame.  This hasn't actually happened yet but I feel it's only a matter of time.

Anyway - on to getting stuck in freezers.  That actually has happened.  And is probably a lesser known problem associated with the carrying of rucksacks.

I popped into Woolworths on my way home and went in search of frozen berries.  At this point I already had a heavy basket and obviously the rucksack on my back.  I pulled open the freezer door and as often I do, propped it open with myself.  Winter layers, a rucksack and a heavy basket do not lend themselves to stretching so I found the berries just out of reach.  It was like the peppermill all over again!  So I had to shuffle myself forward in order to reach them.  Success.  But somewhere in my shuffling process the rucksack had become snagged on the door and when I tried to shuffle backwards I found that I was stuck.

The important thing in these situations is not to panic.  When trapped in a freezer by your own rucksack you don't really want to draw attention to yourself.  Not unless you think you might freeze to death.  Then you just have to swallow your pride.

I dropped the berries into my basket and then continued to stare at the frozen fruit some more.  Then I casually wiggled my way into breaking free of the freezer door.  Reverse wiggling.  It's a very sophisticated move.  Of course it never occurred to me to just remove the backpack.  Or to put down the basket.  Reverse wiggling was obviously the right thing to do.  And I think it was the right thing to do because I untangled myself with minimal embarrassment.  And with the frozen berries.

So I guess the moral of this Stalky tale is that rucksacks are good as long as you can keep your balance on the bus and if you stay out of freezers.