2258 Strap On

The other day I was at a public event in an outdoor space. The kind of space where you would bring a chair. The kind of place you used to bring a blanket.

Nowadays almost no one brings blankets. Because portable chair technology has gotten so amazing. Very elaborate devices that fold out into the equivalent of a living room recliner. 

The reason I noticed was because I was positioned near a bag check area and got to see everything from chairs folded and put into tubular carrying bags to chairs that were their own carriers. Actually the people carrying them were carriers. And how.

The ones in bags had a shoulder strap. The new carrier types had two shoulder straps and were carried pretty much like a backpack. And heck, if you're going to carry it like a backpack why not make it useful that way too?

This was accomplished by putting zippered compartments in the chair. When the chair was unfolded, the compartments were still available to the user. A great place to store sunscreen, snacks, bug spray or a couple of beers. 

Which would be easier to drink when you folded out your chair because it also included a fold-down elbow desk. Embedded in the middle of that truncated tray table was, you guessed it, a cupholder. Did I mention the chair was also a recliner?

So you go to a place. And don't want to expend energy standing up for a couple of hours. So you bring an elaborate comfort-enhanced chair which is so laden with amenities that you have to heft it like a backpack, complete with shoulder straps. 

Result? When you get to the place you're so exhausted you have to sit down in a recliner. Lucky you brought one.

America, ya gotta love it.