Pack Mules... in Center City?

What’s more annoying? 27 inches of snow all at once, or spread over 5 or 6 storms? I’ll let you decide.


Over the past few years, I’ve noticed a phenomenon here in Center City. There’s a whole team of pack mules roaming the streets. The mules I remember seeing as a kid on the westerns had four legs, but the modern version has only two legs, works in an urban setting but totes as much as the four-legged kind. I see them trampling over the snow banks, trudging down the street, waiting for buses, doing all the things normal human beings do, but they can’t be human, they are carrying too much stuff around. They must be beasts of burden hired by rich folks to carry their stuff around. The mules can’t be carrying all their own stuff, can they? They have a huge purse, a computer case or briefcase, and a bag of other unidentified stuff, like books or clothes or who knows what. They tote it to work with them, then turn around and tote it all home at night. Do they really need all that stuff to go to work for eight hours? I’ve gone away for weeks at a time and not carried as much stuff as they do, just to step out their front doors. And another thing I’ve noticed – all these mules are females! I think they are, it’s hard to tell sometimes, they are hidden under their bags. So if you see one of these mules waddling down the street, steer clear of them. I hear they can bite and their kick can be harmful. And if they drop one of their bags on your toes, you’ll be hobbling around for days.