Everything about Porter Carrier totally explained
A
porter, also called a
bearer, is a person who carries objects.
Historical meaning
Human adaptability and flexibility early led to the use of humans for
transporting gear. Uneven terrain, such as in mountains, alleyways and markets, and a lack of formed roads, such as in jungle, makes the use of porters economical where one can obtain relatively cheap labour.
Porters were used as human
beasts of burden commonly in the ancient world, when labour was generally cheap, especially in societies that depended on slavery. The ancient
Sumerians, for example, enslaved women to carry wool and flax.
The use of bearers for
litters to carry persons of rank or religious idols, especially in formal processions, seems to have extended their practical function into that of ceremonial status symbol in the often conservative protocol of court and cult, a role continued into the 20th century with the papal
sedia gestatoria and possibly echoed in the modern funeral
pallbearer.
Current meaning
Porters are still employed to carry burdens in many
third-world countries, especially where animals like camels, oxen, horses and dogs, or vehicles like carts, trucks, ships, trains and aircraft, have not taken over human bearers' traditional functions or where such alternatives are not practicable.
Child soldiers are also typically compelled to serve as porters.
The
Sherpa people of
Nepal have established a reputation as
mountaineering porters, and are considered indispensable for the highest Himalayan expeditions.
Porters who work at railway stations in
India are called
coolies, a term for unskilled Asian labourers. The term "coolie" was also used in China for porters in general.
The term "porter" is also used in general for
hotel,
railway and
airport employees who carry luggage; the respective industry-specific terms are
bellhop, redcap and
skycap. Railroad porters once wore distinctive red-colored caps for easy identification, contrasting with the caps in blue or other colors, normally worn by other train personnel.
In many public places such as airports, border crossings, sea ports and railway stations, porters are often a nuisance to tourists, taking their luggage without permission and demanding excessive fees.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Porter Carrier'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://porter__carrier.totallyexplained.com">Porter (carrier) Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
