I saw a great sight when I was in Memphis.
Outside the airplane there was this black dude who grabbed each and every luggage with what ever strap that was closest to him, dragged it off the cart (a good 3-5 feet off the ground) and onto the tarmac, over the tarmac (15 feet) and then pushing it onto the thing that takes it into the airplane. Sometimes he made it, sometimes not and it rolled off the other side (another 3 feet to the ground).
I was quite happy that I had all fragile stuff in my carry-on
