I found a trolley last night in a dumpster at Sydney Uni. I’m quite excited, because its one of the style that I’ve coveted for a long time: the vinyl granny shopper. People normally only throw them away when the wheels have fallen off because the axel has broken. But this one’s only flaws are a small rip near the bottom of the vinyl bag, and a certain ripe mouldiness all over.
The magic of gaffer tape will fix the former, and a spray of vinegar will fix the latter (I hope). Then I’ll be able to make up a spray stencil and decorate!
I do alreay have a more modern shopping trolley. Its heavy, bulky and made of a nylon webbing that isn’t quite waterproof. The wheels rattle and it can be cumbersome over uneven ground. Its not very stable, either, due to a folding stand mechanism. By comparison, the granny-shopper is so light yet strong; rough-going yet quiet; slim yet capacious. It has a lovely chromed handle, and soft rubber on the tires. The fixed stand is sleekly curved.
For maybe a year now, we have been shopping by trolley. When I crashed my car, I didn’t want to get another one, but the weekly shop had to get done. Bicycle shopping has its charms, but packing a week’s groceries into 2 panniers isn’t one of them. So I started trolley-shopping. At first I could feel people’s eyes upon me, looking at the different thing. My boyfriend said that the old ladies were jealous that “that lady has a nice young man to pull her trolley” and maybe he was right. Checkout chicks were puzzled at first, as were bus drivers and just about everyone. People queueing behind us in the checkout aisle rolled their eyes and sighed.
But nowadays, lots of people use a trolley. I see middle-aged couples and young women trundling down the street trailing trolleys, and I smile. I like that there is an alternative to loading up a car. I like that there’s an alternative to being a nutty bicycle evangelist (I love them, but I’m not one!). I like that there’s a way to walk a really heavy amount of stuff around the streets, I like that I’m not stuck in one place, and that my shoulders are free of kilograms. What I like most is that this new trolley has a great feature that my old one doesn’t have - I can strap it to my bike, and it doesn’t fall over when I ride.
Oh trolley love!
“I dumpster-dived a granny trolley last night and tied it to my bike. So nice, so light, so smooth!”
