When did we become so weak that we can't carry anything?

I take the train to work regularly and usually carry a couple of bags; my computer bag and another bag with my lunch and workout clothes. The first bag is a typical over the shoulder computer bag, the second is a backpack.

As I was getting off the train, the woman in front of me took her bag, set it on the ground, pulled up the extended handle and started pulled the bag on its wheels. Now, normally this wouldn't bother me at all since luggage with wheels had been around since I was young. But this wasn't a large bag loaded up for a ten day vacation. This bag was more like a small backpack, smaller than the ugly bright orange backpack I used in grade school. But I carried mine on my back, and this woman, who was alot bigger than I was when I was hefting that bag on my back, was PULLING THIS TINY BAG!

Did I miss this memo? We no longer can carry anything? When I got to work, a guy I work with also had his bag on wheels. This guy was a big guy, a tough guy, and even he was reduced to wheeling his bag.

So I headed over th Kohl's to see if this trend was real. Well, it turns out you can't even find a regular backpack anymore. Every single bag I saw had wheels.

I'm not ready to trade in my old school backpack anytime soon for a rolling model. Now I know I can never get rid of it. I hope in thrity years people aren't laughing at my bad back as they wheel their bags around me.

This is a quote from an AP article today about an FBI agent killed during a shootout. While this situation is tragic enough, the FBI does everyone a disservice with their quote. This quote, from the FBI, is a textbook example of the language of government.

"Preliminarily, information suggests the agent may have been fatally wounded as a result of the accidental discharge of another agent's weapon during a dynamic arrest situation," the FBI said in a statement Thursday night.

If this sentence appeared in a College Composition class, it would surely raise a flag. My composition teacher, Dr. Smith, would have whipped out trustly old red, crossed out the entire sentence and rewritten it like this:

"We shot our own agent."

I would like to see what a dynamic arrest situation looks like. Does the FBI have video of such an arrest.

The sad thing is the FBI is trying to hide behind this language instead of just coming right out and admitting that one agent accidentally shot another agent. It looks like we need to send the FBI back to English Composition 101.

Chicago Elections

Voter turnout was traditionally low in Chicago's city elections on Tuesday February 27,2007. I don't understand why people don't vote. If you don't vote, you can't complain. People running local government directly impact your life dramatically more than on the national level but few people seem to understand that concept.

I did write myself in for one position. Any time someone runs unopposed, I write myself in. There should at least be a choice for all positions.

Balls.

Ron Santo should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame. End of Story