Not all education happens within classroom walls. Nick McCown is a deliveryman, often carrying heavy objects across nicely finished floors or plush carpets. He learned quickly that a standard dolly often tracks mud and dirt into people’s homes, which tarnishes his company’s reputation. These forearm lifting straps are an absolute must for Nick, who uses furniture for as much as 10 hours per day. Straps are a critical tool that streamlines appliances and furniture moving, eliminates the dolly, and is designed to work with the strongest parts of the human body to distribute the weight. These straps are Nick’s tools of the trade. He hopes that any college students seeing these straps remember this throughout their many moves in and out of dorm rooms and apartments and homes. “[They can] maybe try to use it and maybe it’ll help them out later on in the long run.”
Listen to Nick’s experiences in his own words:
This object is part of the “Personal Growth” section of the Artifacts of Experience exhibition designed by University of Cincinnati students in the “Introduction to Public History” course in 2023.
We encourage you to explore the other objects in our collection.
Transcript
Tyler Hess [TH]: Can you describe the object?
Nick McCown [NM]: They’re a pair of straps that are reflective and they have three different holes on each side, so you can if you’re using the bottom hole, you can lift higher. And if you use the top hole, you’re hovering [over] the ground, but you’re not scraping up the floor that you’re going into the homes and it’s basically easier to maneuver around corners and stuff.
[TH]: Why did you choose this object?
[NM]: I use it in my everyday career and I figured, you know, a college student asking me what is something I use that is important to me. With college kids that move into different apartments different, you know, buildings or once they’re done with college or something and they’re moving into a home. They might be able to take something from this and maybe try to use it and maybe it’ll help them out later on in the long run.
[TH]: What does this object mean to you?
[NM]: It means if I’m using this in my career that I do, which is moving things for people I’m not use, I’m not going to be using a Dolly so I’m not going to be tracking mud under their house and I’m not going to be using a Dolly to scrape up, you know, walls or something or their floors. So if I’m using this object. They’re going to be more pleased because you know, I’m not damaging their home. I’m not dirtying up their home and it’s just a lot less hectic for them if I use this. And if I please them, then they’re more likely to stay with our company or more likely to come back.
[TH]: Why is this object important for you learning the trade?
[NM]: So basically like I was saying, if you know if I make the customer happy, they’re they’re more likely to come back, they’re more likely to stay with us. Also, it makes it a lot easier instead of like lifting the object. You got it. Don’t hurt your forearms at all. So you’re just you’re just using your forearm and it’s a padding on there, so it’s going to help your back instead of lifting it. It’s going to save your hands because your hands are going to be on top of the object instead of underneath where it can get crushed or cut.
[TH]: What is your favorite story to tell about this object?
[NM]: One time I was with my partner and we were trying to use these we were going to actually use a Dolly because it was downstairs and. She had steep stairs, so we actually used these instead because if we were to use a Dolly and she had steep steps, you know, I don’t want to crush the person that’s underneath us trying to hold it up. So we use the forearm straps and it actually, when somebody’s higher and somebody’s lower, you can use different levels of the strap. And it will actually keep the product more safe because you got four hands on It, and you have better maneuverability and it’s also going to keep it level. So you’re not, you know, tripping down the stairs or anything like that. You can. It’s walk with a breeze.