I have always found people to be very interesting: what people do, why people do it, and how they go about doing the things they do. Naturally, I am always examining what people are doing, mostly the very minuscule details that they themselves may not even notice. Some of my favorite places to interact with people and watch what they do, is by far, a bar. When people consume a drink of two, they start to not really notice what they do even more so and continue to say or do things they wouldn’t normally do because of the loss of inhibitions that warrant their social poise.
Even though a bar is my favorite place to interact with people, my favorite way to examine people that really tells me about their personality is by what they carry with them on an everyday basis. What we carry tells us a lot about who we are as people, regardless of if we know it or not.
Recently there was a trend of people doing something called a “#pocketdump,” in which people would take out what they normally would carry with them on an everyday basis and take a nicely organized photo and then put online for all of the world to see. This interested me so much when this first came out, I loved seeing what people carried, and without knowing them I felt that I had seen a little bit into their lives without having to meet them in person.
There were things that I often saw in every picture: car keys, wallet, money clip and cell phone. The next thing I would notice was the additions they had made to each thing, such as an extra strong phone case on their phone. They are carrying a phone case that is hailed as “indestructible” or “waterproof,” then I would wonder are they outdoorsy, adventurous or were they are just plain clumsy and prone to dropping their phone or not taking care of their things. Usually, I would deduce the latter, Next, I would notice the keychains on their keyring, the key fob indicating a particular brand of clothes they are interested in.
A simple brand name key fob would tell me that they might be particularly preppy with their Southern Proper fob, or loves hunting with something from Ducks Unlimited. Next, I almost always saw a bottle opener, maybe form a particular brewery or a fraternity to which they belong. This tended to tell me that they are a person who prefers cracking off a craft beer bottle cap as opposed to grabbing a 30 rack of Natty and popping tabs all night.
The next thing I would notice is the condition of what they carried. It was really interesting to see the notches in someone’s pocket knife or the wear on their leather wallet. My favorite things to see were the things they had that were beat up and scratched. The more tattered condition of their items tended to tell me that these items had been with their owners for a while, be it gifted from a relative or just such a good product that it still works so well that the owner can’t seem to get rid of it.
Unfortunately all too often I would notice the things that people would put up in their perfectly arranged would be things that were obviously something not often carried by that person or something they just bought to include in the picture to create a better picture for whatever reason that is. It was kind of irritating and a bit sad to see honestly.
I hope you noticed the picture above, which is essentially what I carry with me every day, and I’m going to explain to you why I carry what I have or why I have accessorized on the items.
Wallet: This was given to me by my ex-girlfriend for my birthday, I believe. It is a nice leather and needlepoint wallet. Inside my wallet I carry two unique coins. One is my fraternity’s challenge coin that if you know why we have them then you know why we carry them. The other is a lotto scratcher that a taxi driver gave to me and a pledge brother one night on spring break in lieu of dollar change. I keep it because that was a very fun trip, and I have it as a small token by which I remember it.
Phone: Standard iPhone 5, with a life-proof case that is way overdue to be taken off, but because I am too cheap to fork over the money for a new case, I use it still even though it won’t keep water out.
Keys: My keys to my car and one to my mother’s house, one to my current house, one to my previous house (the realty company asked for it back, but nah fam) and one to my place of work. Then we go into my Georgia flag key fob, I like this because I am proud to be from Georgia and hope to one day work in state legislature. I keep it as a reminder. My Bi-Lo card because discounts. My bottle opener that I got from an Iowa City brewery when four of our chapters brothers were invited to visit nationals, me and another pledge brother went to a brewery that had a bar attached and they gave us these key chains because we kept the bartender company during the last hours they were open.
Pen: Engraved with my company’s logo (MNI Direct) it contains a standard ball point pen, a stylus and a flashlight all in one. I always carry a pen with me, I’m not too sure why. I guess I like feeling prepared for anything or if I have a thought to write it down.
My medicine bottle: I have something called Cystic Fibrosis, so it causes me to have to take medicine when I eat meals, so I need to always be ready ad have some on hand.
Keep an eye out on people’s things, and take care of your own possessions as well. Just remember, the things we carry say something about each and every one of us. They say what we like, how we may act, our habits, or maybe even what we like to do. You never know who is watching or analyzing the things you may overlook.
