Accessorize
Today in class, I noticed something a little... bizarre. Each student has his/her own little pencil case, in which they keep a wide variety of pencils, erasers, and other such thing. That in and of itself is fairly normal. Most students have various pictures or logos or brands on their cases, often coming from various aspects of Americana. You have the Winnie-the-Pooh cases, the Disney cases of all kinds, and the sesame street cases, plus cases that say "I love Puma" or are just a solid color.
Some, however, venture into the bizarre, often featuring strange combinations of the English language. One girl's case just said "LOVE FAN" over and over again. I don't know about you, but the one time I tried to 'love' a fan, it ended in a trip to the hospital. Not really a common utterance.
Some, though, stand out more than others. One has the following words repeated over and over: "Dream grew low. I could have one hope. Encounter is always fresh. Goldrush." I asked the girl what this means, and received a great "I don't know" in response. Well, honey, neither do I.
The number as far as bizarre features a small picture of LL Cool J in the corner. Ok, that's normal, Junior High kids love their american rap. Then, the remainder of the background seems to be parts of magazine articles about LL. Fair enough. Then, in bold letters standing out above all else, the cases says "Have you flossed today?" What does that have to do with LL? What is going on here? And have I flossed today? I don't know, but it resulted in me searching my soul for an answer for the rest of the class period.
As previously stated, some cases have generic brands or themes on them. One that really confused me was a kid with the Los Angeles Raiders on his case. Now, first, I know for a fact none of these kids watch football (and I've desperately tried to find one that likes such a wonderful sport). The hypocrisy of having a football pencil case without liking football aside... Los Angeles Raiders? How long has it been since they played in Los Angeles? Yet the case is brand new... this one just ble my mind.
Finally, there was one young student that had a case with the Playboy bunny on it, saying "Playboy" just below the image. Now, maybe it's just me, but I find something fundamentally wrong with a 14 year old girl having merchandise, in school, promoting a porn company. That's when horrific realization dawned on me... I quickly looked at the girl's socks. At the top of each sock was the Playboy insignia. I did a scan of the room, and noticed about 75% of all girls had the Playboy bunny on their socks. I had noticed it before, certainly, but it's one of those things that just didn't register until now. The majority of girls in Junior High School here in Japan sport Playboy socks....
Maybe I'm a little too prudish sometimes, but I just can't find this to be a good sign of future health for these girls, physical, mental, or sexual.
Some, however, venture into the bizarre, often featuring strange combinations of the English language. One girl's case just said "LOVE FAN" over and over again. I don't know about you, but the one time I tried to 'love' a fan, it ended in a trip to the hospital. Not really a common utterance.
Some, though, stand out more than others. One has the following words repeated over and over: "Dream grew low. I could have one hope. Encounter is always fresh. Goldrush." I asked the girl what this means, and received a great "I don't know" in response. Well, honey, neither do I.
The number as far as bizarre features a small picture of LL Cool J in the corner. Ok, that's normal, Junior High kids love their american rap. Then, the remainder of the background seems to be parts of magazine articles about LL. Fair enough. Then, in bold letters standing out above all else, the cases says "Have you flossed today?" What does that have to do with LL? What is going on here? And have I flossed today? I don't know, but it resulted in me searching my soul for an answer for the rest of the class period.
As previously stated, some cases have generic brands or themes on them. One that really confused me was a kid with the Los Angeles Raiders on his case. Now, first, I know for a fact none of these kids watch football (and I've desperately tried to find one that likes such a wonderful sport). The hypocrisy of having a football pencil case without liking football aside... Los Angeles Raiders? How long has it been since they played in Los Angeles? Yet the case is brand new... this one just ble my mind.
Finally, there was one young student that had a case with the Playboy bunny on it, saying "Playboy" just below the image. Now, maybe it's just me, but I find something fundamentally wrong with a 14 year old girl having merchandise, in school, promoting a porn company. That's when horrific realization dawned on me... I quickly looked at the girl's socks. At the top of each sock was the Playboy insignia. I did a scan of the room, and noticed about 75% of all girls had the Playboy bunny on their socks. I had noticed it before, certainly, but it's one of those things that just didn't register until now. The majority of girls in Junior High School here in Japan sport Playboy socks....
Maybe I'm a little too prudish sometimes, but I just can't find this to be a good sign of future health for these girls, physical, mental, or sexual.
posted by S A B at 9:55 PM
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