Is it ever a good idea to… wear a backpack?

TOMong The many tangible signs of the current collapse of our civilization, the normalization of the use of backpacks in urban environments is not the most publicized. Almost more insidious than the emergence of populism or the integration of the phrase “that have a good day” in the daily language, does not say much about the excesses of our time.

Let’s take things in order. Established from 11^Th Century of the indigenous peoples of the Arctic, who favored large wicker baskets taken to the shoulders, the concept of the backpack has won continuous sophistication over the centuries. The first models with leather straps appeared in 17^Th Century. Three hundred years later, the Norwegian inventor Ole F. Bergan, a mountaineer and explorer in his free time, patented a canvas model. Since then, the backpack has continued to evolve, frantically in recent years.

Today, it comes in hard shell versions that safely protect laptops. Some models rolled as kraft paper bags, ensuring perfect waterproofing. Others, equipped with a multitude of strictly defined compartments, promise to maintain the content of a trunk without executing the size of the cabin. Even others, perhaps the most terrifying, are equipped with wheels, allowing them to transform themselves into suitcases.

Comfort prevails over beauty

In a state of chronic ugliness, the backpack thrives with the sad contingencies of our time. The more laptop computers generalize in a working world that demands flexibility and mobility, the more indispensable it becomes. The faster our lives accelerate, to the point where the idea of ​​waiting for a few minutes to recover our bag of the luggage carousel cools to the bone, the more inevitable it becomes. The more comfort prevails over beauty, the more inevitable it becomes.

For a long time, the backpack was a friend. By releasing his hands, he facilitated sports adventures and mountain increases. Childhood duration, it is still a good playmate, easily becoming the post of an improvised football game. But, in adulthood, what is it? Have hands free to remain chained to a smartphone or the handlebar of an electric scooter that accelerates along the despair. “Have a good day,” anyway!