Every time I leave my room, I conduct the same routine; pat my right pocket and I've got my phone, pat my left pocket and I've got my keys, pat my right butt cheek and Oh No! No wallet. I then spend two and a half minutes searching my place for my wallet and then finish my routine by opening the fridge to grab my Nalgene. After completing this routine, I am ready to take on the world. If I bypass this routine and I happen to forget one of the fantastic 4, I may as well forget about trying to have a successful day.
My phone is what keeps me connected and on time but it can't be trusted. I'm sure that any day now the tape that is so valiantly holding it together will fail and I will then have two pieces of useless Verizon chocolate floating around in my right pocket. My keys are boring and take up space unless they are with my car and my wallet is just a pain in my ass that constantly reminds me that I am broke. My Nalgene is what really gets me through my day.
My Nalgene is blue. It packs 32 ounces of whatever I can afford to fill it with (usually tap water). It is carried by a red carabiner that sports the web address for a summer camp that I used to work with. Stickers cover this water bottle and make it My Nalgene. Yeah, it's purpose is to hydrate it's owner but it is really the memories that come with My Nalgene that make it an object that symbolizes who I am.
The stickers read; Kuhl Clothing, a bumper sticker that I got from the outdoor store that I worked at, the origin of My Nalgene. Rappahannock, the not so lazy river that I have spent days floating down. (One sticker with two random kitty cats), I don't know where this one came from. From the Land of Pleasant Living, Nati Boh Baltimore, Maryland, need I say more? Bee Happy from Samantha, a dwindling memory of my recently made ex-girlfriend. I Live, because I plan to until I die.
If my Nalgene were analyzed as an object marking identity, then I might find myself embarrassed. The bottle is heavily beaten, scratched and cluttered with stickers that are worn and messy. I feel that I must justify My Nalgene in order to prove that I am not an abuser of my own property and horder of every sticker that crosses my path.
If My Nalgene were seen as an object of social marking, then I hope that it would tell the story of a culture that is concerned for the future of the environment. This object would be seen as one person's effort to end the overuse of disposable plastic beverage bottles. Maybe.
1 comment:
I can understand the why you are so attached to your water bottle. I especially like what you said about the other things too (wallet, Phone, and keys). It can seem like we have become slaves to them when in reality i don't even like what they represent.
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