I speak of course of those cart things that city dwellers use to transport packages, laundry, or groceries around town.
Here's a hint: the cheap ones at Bed, Bath and Beyond? Don't waste your money. In addition to being a suitable height only for an Oompa-Loompa, in order to pull the cart, which only has two wheels, one must lean forward, making the cart even shorter. Thus, by the time one arrives at one's destination, one's back hurts as badly as if one had been carrying the junk in one's arms anyway.
If you are like me, you have probably never purchased a cart, as they are largely unnecessary unless you do not have a car and want to do laundry, order packages, or shop at a grocery store. For this reason, please heed the following advice:
1) stand up and hold the cart (or the tallest part of the cart/box if it is unassembled) as you would when pulling it behind you. If you have to lean down EVEN A LITTLE BIT, you will suffer sharp shooting pain in your back after walking any distance longer than three inches.
2) go ahead and spring for the four wheels. It's not that tilting the cart over is overly cumbersome, but it is overly bothersome, and when you are carting around dirty laundry or heavy packages or groceries that you want to eat desperately, you don't want to be bothered.
3) go ahead and get the grips on the handlebars, so you don't have to hold as firmly. Again, little things really add up when you travel long distances with heavy loads.
4) make sure that the openings between the bars on the carts are not too wide, or you'll constantly be turning around checking to be sure nothing's fallen out if you're OCD like me. If you're not OCD, you'll lose stuff.
5) try really hard to get an apartment with in-building laundry. In-unit is better. But if you live in San Francisco, plan on getting a cart. Little things really add up financially here, too.
I got mine on Overstock.com and paid $10 more than the $20 I paid for the one from BB&B. Also, we didn't have to pay for a Zipcar and shipping was free.
Background story:
Ok, so you know how I just moved to SF and all? And how I'm really excited? And how I also moved in with the love of my life? So it's kind of a big deal. Also, I was going through some madness in Atlanta, and driving myself crazy in addition to the normal crazy-driving undergone by most people in the process of moving, especially across the country.
Because of this, for several days, instead of packing, I made change-of-address cards. Beautiful change-of-address cards! I was so looking forward to sending them out. I affixed the stamps and even mailed them to Collin ahead of time! Because of my enthusiasm, Collin got the package before I even got to San Francisco. When I finally arrived, I realized that we would have to go to the post office and claim the package (because for some reason the mail carrier pretended not to see the signed re-deliver request placed in the mail box for two consecutive days). At the same time, I realized that the post office was actually about a mile away, and I remembered that the box was heavy.
We went to BB&B one of the first nights of my residence and picked up a cart (among approximately one million other things). The next day I put together my cart and when Saturday finally came, Collin and I headed to the post office. After dragging the rattling empty cart down the sidewalk, we reached the post office. Of course I had forgotten my ID, but thanks to some very successful begging on my part, she finally gave us the package. Excited to mail the cards, and thrilled that it worked out ("We're at the post office! Let's mail them now!"), we tore open the box, only to find that it was the wrong box. Seriously. It was a box that should have been in storage. Oh my gosh, how the blood did boil and the tears try to run. Well, then, we decided, we'll just walk all the way back. At least we got the box so we completed one of our errands.
That's when the error of our purchasing ways really became evident. Collin was sweet enough to pull the cart for the first half of the trip. I asked a couple of times and finally he let me pull it. I was surprised, because usually he'll just take care of the heavy things, which is one of the things I really love about him by the way. I took hold of the handle, walked forward a few steps, and stopped. I turned to look at Collin and realized how unhappy he looked and I knew it had nothing to do with me.
"Oh my god," I gasped. "How have you been pulling this?!" He shook his head and looked down at the ground. Twenty minutes later we got back home, and twenty-one minutes later I was on Overstock.com, looking at carts.
Above: The offending cart (left). Please note overall lacking-ness. Another Bed, Bath and Beyond "gem" i.e. "complete waste of money." Also note the improved version on the right, the Drive Winnie Wagon. Reviews on amazon aren't great but it's way better considering we got it for $30 (on Overstock) and the first was $20. You get what you pay for, and in this case $30 is just enough for what we need.
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