The next fad

I predict a new product. Maybe there’s time for you to get the jump on it and make some good dough.

Picture the two-wheel trailer you see hitched to the back of some touring motorcycles. Now, scale it down a little and hook it up to the back of someone’s belt. You got it. A people trailer.

I see it as an inevitable trend extension. I believe we started with a minimalist perspective. I clearly recall streaking out of the house clad only in t-shirt and jeans with my mother bellowing to put on a jacket. That mode of dress would continue through college. Who needed more?

About a decade ago, people began to tote water bottles everywhere they went. Like there isn’t ample water supply in virtually every building in this country? Like you’ll dehydrate if water isn’t three seconds away? You’re going to the mall, Sparky, not crossing the Sahara.

Then came the propagation of cargo pants and fanny packs. But, that wasn’t enough. Apparently you need to be prepared for every possible eventuality from an impromptu bivouac up to and including a tsunami.

Enter the backpack. Oh, I bought one years ago, but limited its use to backpacking. No imagination.

I recently took a plane trip and everyone had one, bouncing off each other in the halls of the terminal and bludgeoning those in aisle seats on the plane. Who could survive terminal to terminal without half their worldly possessions? Worse yet was a visit to one of my favorite outdoors stores. The daypacks had proliferated like kudzu, choking out many of the desirable product lines.

And the final harbinger revealed itself when I was downtown for a meeting. People are using wheeled luggage in lieu of attaché cases. Can the people trailer be far behind?

I think not.