Walking Suitcase

When I was in New York City on a business trip, I happened upon a luggage store. 

The store was selling a suitcase.  It was more like a trunk because it didn’t have a retractable handle.  This suitcase had four, multi-directional 3" wheels and rolled along so smoothly even on the thick hotel carpet that I quickly realized a suitcase could give me great mobility support.

So what did I do?  I started using the suitcase like a cane.  I could lean on it, but even better.  I could lean on it while I was walking!  It was like using a moving handrail and the best part about it?  It held all my belongings and my samples so I wasn’t lugging around another object.  That suitcase was the best solution for my polio suffering leg up to that point.  

But is this the end of story?

No.

That’s just the beginning.  Even though the walking suitcase was better than anything else I had tried, it wasn’t the perfect solution.  It was too big and posed security problems.  I can’t tell you how many times I got stopped and asked what was in the suitcase.  The security guards would have to open it up and see what was inside and then I had to tell them my polio story and how I used it as my mobility support.  That was just a tough experience all together. 

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