Much as I sometimes enjoy being what others laughingly refer to as 'grown up', I can't help feeling that some of life's simple pleasures are pretty much closed doors to me. One of these is being hoisted up onto a family member's shoulders and getting carried about the place - seeing over everyone else's heads, bouncing about gently and generally having a better time than all the idiots walking.
I've tried to recreate this experience in recent years, but it always ends up being a rather unstable, precarious arrangement that lasts less than a minute before being put down - usually rather forcefully - to earth.
What I propose is a service where you can hire a great strapping person to piggyback you about places. This would come in especially useful when needing to see above a crowd of people, or just a novel way of getting about the place when you're not too bothered about speed.
This could extend to piggyback tours of tourist destinations, with your carrier also dispensing information about the local sights while you flail about grabbing their forehead.-- -alx, Jul 20 2002 carrymehome.com http://www.halfbake...a/carrymehome_2ecomSimilar idea. [polartomato, Jul 20 2002, last modified Oct 04 2004] Eric the Half-a-Bee http://www.wilken.f...on/Songs/song14.htmFor canitbee. May you read, sing, and enjoy this song! [The_Englishman_Abroad, Jul 24 2002, last modified Oct 04 2004] I think carrymehome.com was a (edit: related) idea, for sending people home on someone's shoulders. Maybe you've seen it already. Of course, this is a general human transport plan. Why the hell not? (Crois given.)-- polartomato, Jul 20 2002 no, this is totally different to carrymehome.com and I love it - croissant. children have all the fun.-- po, Jul 20 2002 Love it. Sign me up now please! Croissant for you alx, and a ride on a Giant's shoulders for me (yay!)-- The_Englishman_Abroad, Jul 20 2002 Now the three of you promised croissants and the idea's only got +2. Who's fibbing?-- FarmerJohn, Jul 20 2002 Po did first. Mine's bolded up top. It's TEA.-- polartomato, Jul 20 2002 oops sorry, was too engrossed in a pizza *blush* aforementioned croissant has been delivered *blush*-- The_Englishman_Abroad, Jul 20 2002 A croissant on your shoulders. I would like to request a giant with big frizzy hair.-- hob, Jul 21 2002 I'm worried that when people shaped robots become common, they will set off a SUV style escalation. I see swarms of chromed behemoths stomping around with their yuppy burdens perched on high sneering at the earthbound proles.-- pfperry, Jul 21 2002 Giant Croissant-- thumbwax, Jul 21 2002 What do all the tall people do when the short people riding on tall people become taller than the tall people?-- Mr Burns, Jul 21 2002 they ride on short people..-- po, Jul 21 2002 And where does that leave us?-- Mr Burns, Jul 21 2002 thcgenius: Elephant taxi service ? <pedant> (Taxi service using elephants, not taxis for elephants.) </pedant>-- 8th of 7, Jul 21 2002 I just like seeing over everyone at concerts.. I'll have to rethink my whole strategy if this comes to light. I guess I'd just have to carry a bag of banana peels around wherever I go... (zip-SPLAT! "man, you should really watch where you walk")-- Mr Burns, Jul 21 2002 I love this idea, though probably only because I have met a total of 3 people who are older than me and shorter than me, and far too many younger people who are taller than me. Croissant!-- canitbee, Jul 21 2002 canitbee, any relation to Eric the Half-a-bee?-- The_Englishman_Abroad, Jul 21 2002 tee hee. TEA-- po, Jul 23 2002 Taking this literally, would we see it develop into the sports of show jumping, dressage, steeplechase, etc.?-- DrCurry, Jul 23 2002 That would all rather depend on the availability and hardiness of the carriers. Personally, I think people with the suitable qualities are too valuable a resource to chance injury in sporting events - but I may be overestimating the risks.-- -alx, Jul 23 2002 Get me Dave Prowse, I have a business proposal for him.-- calum, Jul 23 2002 [calum] Feeling the seductive power of the DARK SIDE?-- Jinbish, Jul 23 2002 No...never even read his annotations. Sorry, TEA!-- canitbee, Jul 24 2002 No you silly lamb! Eric the Half a bee is a Monty Python creation! See Link *wink*-- The_Englishman_Abroad, Jul 24 2002 Oh! The only Monty Python I've seen is The Holy Grail, which I only got around to seeing this year, after my friends quoted it at me one too many times. Love the song, and will sing it later. Thank you for the links...they really help us <kidding>uneducated</kidding> newbies. (For anyone who would take that seriously, I've added the proper tags.-- canitbee, Jul 26 2002 Mephista, my feet stink to high heaven. Is that the same sort of thing?-- DrBob, Jul 26 2002 Im glad western society is returning to the more demeaning foarms of servitude.-- ImBack, Aug 27 2002 Robosaurus (Giant robot game) works in the US. They are even making a movie about it.-- pashute, Aug 28 2002 "Smithers, this reminds me of the fat man I used to ride to work"-- BunsenHoneydew, Nov 21 2002 Giant carrying father carrying child - pyramid scheme-- herilane, Nov 21 2002 This reminded me of "Something About Mary" and Warren, the large guy with down syndrome. Granted, it's a movie, but he didn't seem to mind giving piggyback rides to others. Maybe we should just be a big brother/sister to someone who likes the attention and provide this service at the same time.-- goober, Mar 07 2003 You just couldn't do this alongside the highways where I live since there are countless signs that state, "Travel On Shoulders Prohibited".-- BMCCUE, Nov 14 2005 Trained gorillas, perhaps?-- whlanteigne, Apr 14 2013 random, halfbakery