[at-l] Lightweight - Not!

[jbullar1 at twcny.rr.com (Jim Bullard)]

At 08:28 AM 6/18/2005 -0400, Steve Landis wrote:
>http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/06/0616_050616_nepalporter.html
>or
>http://tinyurl.com/7t5o3
>*...
>*"On average, the men and women respectively bore 93 percent and 66 
>percent of their body weight, the researchers report."
>...
>"A porter's gear is simple but effective: The load goes into an oversized 
>basket, or /doko,/ which rests against the back. A strap runs underneath 
>the doko and over the crown of the head, which bears most of the weight. 
>Each porter also carries a T-shaped walking stick called a /tokma."
>
>/Steve/

My first job was in the warehouse for a slipper factory. I quickly learned 
that the best and easiest way to carry large cases of slippers was on top 
of my head. I don't know how much they weighed but each case contained 
between 3 and 6 dozen pairs of sheep fleece lined leather slippers in their 
retail boxes (women's and children's sizes had more to a case). The top of 
my head was a bit sore for the first week or two but carrying them on top 
of our heads with the weigh pressing straight down the spine was much 
easier than anything else we tried.