Trust the design !!

It was summer in Germany when we had to travel back to India to attend my sister’s wedding. We had the flight from Frankfurt to Bombay. Since it was summer in Germany – a perfect weather to enjoy train ride, we decided to travel from Erlangen, where we stay, to Frankfurt airport/train terminal by ICE Train. These ICE or intercity express trains run at maximum speed of 250+ kms/hr and that too without letting you feel the speed from inside.

We reached Frankfurt airport/railway terminal on time. We had 3 big luggages, piled up on a trolley, to be carried down the escalator or steps. I first thought of taking the complete trolley down on the escalator, but a sight of escalator shook my mind.

While I was thinking of alternative ways of taking down each bag one-by-one on escalator, an old German lady came to me and said – “Trust the system we built! Trust the design! Take the trolley full of 3 luggages on escalator, nothing will happen. The feeling of holding a tilted trolley will be weird for sure, but you can take the trolley down safely.”

I tried it, though scared, and to my utter surprise – it was perfect and safe trip to downstairs with my entire luggage in one shot!

You see, unlike most regular carts, these ones have been designed to grip onto the edge of the step, locking the wheels in place. The base where luggage rests is at angle with respect to the horizon so on escalator the frame appears to be tilted but the luggage base is almost parallel to the horizon. Thus, you can use them both on up and down escalators. What a design!!

I heard that German design teams are now working on trolleys that are piled quite high – another act of bypassing the laws of gravity.

Now I do… TRUST THE DESIGN!