I ride the DC Metro to and from work every day(Red line), and every time I’n on the train I see a bunch of people get on with luggage. I’m not talking about a small carry-on bag, I mean full-out luggage. For the most part they’re not getting off at Union Station to catch a train or Gallery Place to tranfer trains to go to the airport, they get on and off at almost every stop. They can’t all be tourists(especially not at 630A), and many of them I see every day, so they’re not here from out of town on business. What the hell are people taking to work they need so much of? What happened to briefcases and gym bags? Do people really need to walk around all day with so much stuff? Is this just a DC thing or do people do this everywhere?
We do this almost every time we go to DC, because we’re usually taking Amtrak in, then taking the metro to the closest stop to our hotel, then walking the rest of the way.
Out-of-towners understand. But people I see on there with luggage every day? I don’t understand what they need so much stuff for.
I’ve seen a good number of attorneys who move their files about in the rolling suitcases that one might put in the overhead bin of an airplane. I suppose if they’d rather work at home than stay late in their office, it makes a lot of sense to roll their case files around.
? to the OP: Just to be clear, your are seeing the same people every day with luggage getting on and off the metro at stops that would not correspond with transfers to Union Station or one of the airports?
If so, your best bet in getting an answer, would be stop one of them and ask them.
Correct.
Okay, I misunderstood your OP…I didn’t realize you were talking about people you see every day doing this.
Have you thought much about luggage, DCnDC?
edit: warning, sound when link is opened (conversational speech)
I’ve seen this on the Light Rail system here in San Jose. A number of the luggage dragging folks appear to be homless/street people.
Going to the gym? Got your work laptop to lug around? Maybe some files to work on tonight? Wanna get some groceries on the way home? Have a long walk ahead of you? Got a back problem? Did you need a big coat this morning but not so much tonight? It’s the modern equivalent of my Grandmother’s wheeled wicker basket.
Basically, think of these as the trunks of their “cars.” What would have to haul around if you weren’t driving it around? As the Mother of a Toddler, I don’t even want to think about it.
They’re congressional staffers smuggling a senator home one piece at a time to rebuild him in their garage.
They’re gonna have a '58/'64/'70/'76/'82/'88/'94/'00/'06 Byrd…
Which Metro stops are you seeing this in. How are they attired? Do they look homeless or otherwise down on their luck, or are they professionally attired?
He only has one tailfin.
These are definitely not homeless people. They are all very well dressed professionals. All along the Red line I’m seeing this, even on the bus. They get off at all the downtown stops, Metro Center, Gallery Place, Judiciary Square, Farragut North, all the way to Bethesda and Medical Center(where I get off). They can’t all be going to the airport.
How much luggage? Are we talking one fair-sized piece, one huge piece, or a full set? If it’s one fair-sized piece, then besides the suggestions already listed I will mention that I often see pharmaceutical reps using one (like one of the two smaller ones here) to carry their samples when visiting doctors’ offices.
Do you think they are attorneys?
Sometimes it’s like that, often times it’s the big one, with smaller bags stacked up the pull handle. I’m just curious why people feel the need to carry around so much stuff. I work in a professional environment, I have activities after/during work, I deal with files and papers all day, and yet I take nothing to or from work, save for my clipboard occasionally.
This being DC, I’m sure at least some of them are, but I don’t think they could all be, even here. They can’t all be students either.
I would guess that some of them are going to be catching a flight mid-day or at the end of the day for a meeting the next day. Some people travel all the time for business, so they might be bringing a suitcase several days per week. As mentioned above, they may also have a big suitcase-like bag of documents or sales materials, too.