Brown Bag Lunch
A History of High School Bookbags
BINKEM
(Robin's bookbag)
Binkem had enjoyed his seat on the shelf of the sporting goods store before I bought him.
At first, he resented the purchase and refused to cooperate. I broke him in soon enough, though.
In his early days, he did a good deal of activity, and he took many beatings. He enjoyed being thrown around,
but sometimes I would rough him up a little too much and he would get mad. These were the times when one of my
books would mysteriously disappear. But he eventually gave them back. Sometimes. But then he came down with
a bad case of rip between his straps. It got worse and worse until he decided he'd rather stay home. Today he
sits under my desk at home, wishing to interact with no one. There he will live out the rest of his days in
peace.
NO NAME
(Jacob's bookbag)
My bookbag has no name.
PROTEUS
(Jacob's bookbag)
Proteus is green and fuzzy and comfortable. He enjoys riding on my back and carrying old stinky socks.
He also rides bikes. In fact, he rides them quite often, and one day he rode away.
I once saw him on Peter Jennings lawn.
ANANIAS
(Adam's bookbag)
My mom had him in college. Then I had him in sixth grade. He did not get used too much. Then in seventh
grade he got used more, but not much because of Mr. Daley. In eighth grade, he received his name along with
Belteshazzar (sigh). They were friends. Good friends. But we won't go into that. Then ninth, he sat on the
table in Mr. Hall's room a lot. He began to grown lonely when the others, Proteus, Hosticus, and Binkem began to be
replaced. This was the beginning of the end, tenth grade. In a show of self-hatred, he feigned a suicide attempt by
eating my hi-liter. He still bears the scars. It was only a matter of time. The stork came and brought his son. He
likes his son. The sit together sometimes. But Ananias is not happy. In the daytime, he sits alone pondering the
meaning of life and his eventual demise, when he will be reunited with friends long gone.
HOSTICUS
(Dave's bookbag)
I had just finished my trip to the Atlanta Zoo, a llama had spit in my face while I was there so I was pretty pissed
off. Little did I know that this would be the day I would find the ultimate bookbag. Since we were already in Atlanta, we
stopped by Target to search for a bookbag. I walked to the back of the store, and all the bookbags seemed normal, expect one.
Yes, the glowing one: I bought him. He is black with a red bottom, he was my destiny. For about the first year I had him, he
remained nameless. One day the name finally came, he shall be named HOSTICUS! After that, Hosticus and I had lots of fun.
His favorite pasttime was riding on my back (he preferred to use both arms). Hosticus was physically injured the day his zipper
stopped working. Hosticus used to like to sit beside Ananias in the hall. I think today Hosticus is probably sitting in a closet
at my brother's apartment. I'm coming to free you Hosticus, my friend.
BUFON
(Dave's bookbag)
I got Bufon at Charbon's in Athens. He was on sale, screaming to be bought. That's exactly what I did. Hosticus hates
Bufon. I left Hosticus for Bufon, so he has every right to hate me. Bufon is all black and he rules! He is my current
bookbag and will be for quite some time.
