Symbolic Interactionism at its Finest

Upon seeing this backpack I immediately feel in love and pinned it accordingly. Something this beautiful should have millions of likes and repins, right? Right. But it has not even had one.

Naturally, I started questioning the judgment of our society as a whole. Surely there is an issue with the brains of everyone on pinterest for not even giving this beauty a second thought.

Then a little bit of rationality set in and I started wondering if maybe something was wrong with me. As any self-assured adult would do, I gauge my judgments of cute/not cute on my pinterest support, so apparently I was wrong about this one. 

But there was still something about this backpack that drew me to it - and then I remembered my pillow case.

When I was little I had a red and white gingham print pillow case that my mother made for me. It had little green triangles around the edge and white daisies. I loved this pillow case, it was like a second baby blanket. 

I have a distinct memory of the day I decided to lay the pillow case to rest. It had been a few months in the making, and its time had come. 

I think I also associate this backpack with my dad. Every Sunday he helps make dinner in his jeans, a white dress shirt, the rainbow slippers my niece made him, and his red & white stripped apron. My dad is also a farm boy, and these colors say farm to me. 

Can you tell I'm a social science major? I've obviously spent years looking into the meanings behind our actions, thoughts, and feelings. You can only write so many 10 page reflection papers before it gets to you. Symbolic interactionism might be a stretch, but hey, this is a thing that I have assigned meaning to and am acting accordingly. Don't worry, it's totally normal to analyze my love for a backpack.

Do you have anything like this? Something you love and think everyone else will love, but then you realize you have a random specific attachment to it?