The bookbag that never dies...because I won't let it!

So today it occurred to me that my book bag (often used synonymously with backpack) is over eight years old today. I think such a thing deserves applause! *clap clap clap* It's an early 2002 Outdoor Products bag, with a black, gray, and orange theme to it with two main pockets and one front pocket, along with securing straps for the chest as well as across the book bag itself for internal support. It's officially classified as an "extreme sports" model and has the Outdoor Products "lifetime guarantee," which I mean to hold them to should the bag ever spontaneously explode. Over the years, this bag of mine has had approximately 17 rips and tears in the fabric and liner that I myself have patched with a simple needle and thread (who'd have thought those home-ec classes would come in handy?), and with each repair I've gotten closer and closer to it. This bag is mine, and has a lot of history in the fabric. But considering how many times I've had to fix it, which has in fact only increased over the years, is it time to simply let it die?

My answer to that is no. Just throwing out a perfectly good bag because it happens to have a few rips in it is ridiculous, and incredibly wasteful on every level from price to pollution. "Use it until it breaks, then get a new one" seems to be the American motto for most things, and considering that most items manufactured today are of poor quality it's not such a bad philosophy. Still, entropy's running. The energy in this universe will be completely used up someday folks. If you can take something you've owned for years, and for less than a dollar fix it yourself AND add to its sentimental value (thereby preventing the need to manufacture, sell and then have you buy a new one), it seems like a win-win situation.

I mean with the strong level of individuality in America, you'd think that being able to boast that you've had a jacket you've fixed and repaired yourself would be a very cheap way to distinguish yourself from the masses. But self-expression takes a back seat to laziness and apathy, it seems. Why spend all that work trying to fix something when you can go out and buy a new one? It's so much easier. Honestly though, personal pride in small accomplishments are terribly lacking these days (like say what you'd get from knowing you fixed something yourself). Everything about our "self" is already pre-made and waiting on a superstore shelf, and all we have left to do is just pick and choose our favorites. It may make the buying process easier, but it cripples the buyer's ability to maintain a personal image. We're stuck with brand loyalty; consumers use a particular brand rather than a particular product to express themselves. And yet companies are frustrated because consumers are fickle, and product life-cycles are continuously shortening. It's self-induced, my friends. Make the item customizable, repairable, reversible, or whatever other characteristics you can think of and make sure it has that potential when it comes out of the factory. THAT makes a self-image.

But of course, this is simply a rant. I'll go on sewing my backpack whenever a new rip shows itself, or patching a hole that I got from a bike trip along the Erie Canal while the rest of the world buys new ones. I can't change societal norms myself, but at least I can take a small but of comfort knowing that my book bag is 100% unique from virtually any other that has been made, or will be made. It's as much "me" as I am.

And it's cheaper too.