by John Straka
I was mildly surprised to find out recently that the rickshaw is still an important means of transportation in some places of the world. Some readers may not know that a rickshaw is a human-powered, two-wheeled taxi.
Its use is controversial. Opponents say it is demeaning, that the man doing the pulling is reduced to the status of an animal.
Gasoline engines, steam engines and electric motors are all recent inventions. For thousands of years, the only power used for transportation was wind and muscle power. Wind was used to propel boats and the only muscles available are animals and human. People have been riding animals or been pulled in carts, carriages, coaches, buggies and wagons for a very long time.
People transporting people is a long-standing practice. Movies about Ancient Egypt or the Holy Land or the Far East show rulers and other dignitaries being carried on beds or couches, decorated with tapestry and curtains and furnished with pillows. Usually four strong men servants or slaves did the carrying.
In emergencies, stretchers or litters are used to carry wounded from place to place. I'm sure that is still being done. Do humans carry other humans in 2008? Yes! Mothers and fathers carry babies and toddlers all the time. I am always touched emotionally when I see a little one hold up both arms in a gesture that says clearly, "Carry me!"
In airports and hospitals, people are carried from place to place by human-powered wheelchairs. Personally I did a lot of pushing my wife around in those times when walking became too difficult for her.
Not that long ago, I rode a swan boat in Boston, powered by a college boy using a bicycle-type device. Along the Atlantic coastline, boardwalks featured buggy-like carriages pushed by an attendant either on foot or using bicycle pedals. I remember the Detroit Zoo had carts for rent. Visitors had choices. Push grandma or the kids, or take turns and let the kids push mom, or just put all the handbags, picnic baskets, etc., in the cart and take turns pushing.
Further back in time, strong men could earn a living carrying people across a brook or stream. I wonder which was more undignified, being carried or lifting skirts to keep them dry?
How many readers have heard of wife-carrying obstacle races? I think they do that in England or Scotland. The first time I saw that on television, the husband and wife teams tried different ways to do the carrying. They were looking for the best way to keep the man's hands free and to maintain balance as the team dealt with the obstacles. The best method seems to be having the wife ride piggyback but upside down with her arms around his waist and her legs around his neck. The rules have been changed and the racing couple do not have to be husband and wife. I wonder if there is an age or weight minimum for the lady.
A long-standing custom is for the groom to carry his bride over the threshold, and in my earlier days it was common for boys to carry a girl on or between the handlebars of his bicycle. One girl who often rode in the wire basket of her boyfriend's bike earned the nickname "Wafflebottom."
In Italy, gondoliers use a single oar to propel passengers along the canals of Venice. I understand they sing love songs to their passengers and create a unique romantic experience.
Actually, when one person transports another from place to place, it makes very little difference how it's done. If one uses a horse, another uses a gas-powered taxi and a third uses a two-wheeled rickshaw, or even if a pilot uses a 747, the one doing the transporting is in control and responsible for the other's safety.
The only popular and often-used human-powered vehicle for carrying someone from place to place that I am familiar with is the perambulator. If you have never heard that word, try to figure out what it means.
I easily recall seeing perambulators being pushed with sometimes as many as three passengers along the sidewalks of Maple Heights. Some were inexpensive bare-bones models, while others were equipped with balloon tires, safety belts, storage compartments and entertainment centers to amuse the passengers.
My parents had one and used it to get from Erwin Street to Broadway Avenue and Libby Road where they boarded the ABC cars.
In case you haven't figured it out yet, a perambulator is a baby buggy.