Well, not just my mother. After jaw surgery (which involved a bone graft from my hip), she was concerned about the nine million pounds of rocks - er, textbooks - I carry on my back everyday for school. For reasons I shall list below, I did not want to use the "rolly", as we termed it, and insisted that I would be fine carrying my backpack. As a smart mother, she got me to agree that I would use a "rolly" if the doctor told me it would be better.
At a doctor's appointment yesterday, my mom brought up the subject, and he said that it would be better for "a few weeks." She asked him if "about a month" would be right, but when I added the exact month from the first day of school to September 19th, she chose to interpret his few weeks as "until the end of September."
We went out to Target and purchased a duffel bag on wheels. It was blue and green, colors that make me happy, and I decided I could "live with it". I packed the bag with my textbooks and folders, stuffed the one side pocket with my calculator and dictionary and wallet and headphones and phone and locker lock, and put various mini bags - little essentials, like band-aids and a mini toothbrush, in one; my myriad pencils, pens, and high-lighters in the next; and a very small one for a mini-stapler and similar things. I headed to school.
At school, a few friends referred to the backpack. I replied that it was "the bane of my existence." Thus, I named the backpack Bane. (Yes, I named my backpack. I might as well be on a first-name basis with it, if I'm to get through the next month and a half.)
Here are a list of the reasons why Bane deserves its name:
- There are stairs in my school. I have to carry Bane up those stairs.
- I have to negotiate Bane throughout the numerous smaller steps into and out of buildings.
- My arms aren't used to pulling weight. My shoulder feels like it's about to rip out of its socket.
- I pull Bane with my left hand, and use my right to hold other necessities like my coat, water bottle, and lunch bag. My watch is on my left hand. I can't see the time while I'm walking, and consequently walk briskly - I'm not allowed to run - to each of my classes, worrying all the while about the time.
- Bane takes up more space in the aisles than my regular backpack.
- Bane makes more noise being opened up, because it has Velcro.
- Bane doesn't have nice little pockets, so things get shaken up in it. [One of the few items with a solution: tomorrow, Bane is getting a friend. A nice shoulder bag is coming to school also, to hold smaller items.]
- I have to maneuver Bane in hallways without crushing people's feet.
- Bane doesn't stand on its own, so I have to lie it down flat.
- It's awkward to open doors without hands (or the use of my hip to push the door open).
I think that's about it. Adding that to the difficulties of handling our crowded hallways while recovering from surgery (I look okay, but I'm still in pain; I briefly considered making a neon sign that says "RECOVERING FROM SURGERY - BE NICE") and the general stresses of junior year (ack!), you can see why Bane deserves its name.
(Don't worry, Mom. :) It's not that bad. I'm just enjoying the humor in the negative situations, because the image of me trying not to get squashed or crush somebody's foot and get to class on time is kind of funny. And, well.....I have to justify the name somehow.)
