A side note. When I was walking around Honduras I was stopped by several kids that wanted my LIVESTRONG wristband. The first boy that asked me was willing to give a free necklace in exchange for the bracelet. I haven't been able to find the wristbands anywhere for over a year so I didn't want to give mine up. I declined because sadly the wristband carries sentimental value to it (I got it with my exboyfriend the first week during the Tour de France about two years ago and shortly thereafter I bought my own road bike).
Anyhow, it only took a few seconds before I was asked by another boy for the bracelet and the requests continued for most of the afternoon. One boy even followed me for a while. I felt kind of bad. I knew it would be a good thing to be generous, but then I would feel bad if I could only share with one kid. Plus my teacher mentality was thinking, they probably have some type of competition to see who can collect the most and they never even wear them.
So why did they want these children want my bracelet? I'm not quite sure. Last year all my students were collecting wristbands, so maybe the trend had passed to Central America? Maybe these kids were avid Lance Armstrong fans? Or were they going to try and resell it? I bet there was some funny reason for wanting them. All I know is that I like my bracelet and at the time I didn't feel bad about giving it up.
**A few weeks ago I went out on my bike. I am crazy for going out in January (the wind even knocked me over at one point!) so my friend and I decided to stop at a local bike shop. My friend needed to buy full length gloves so I decided to peruse the merchandise while I was waiting. Right at the register I found a box full of LIVESTRONG bracelets. I thought, hpmh, I should have given my bracelet away.
Sunday, January 29, 2006
LiveStrong wristband
Posted by Travelin' Tracy at 7:35 PM
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4 comments:
Awww... that's a crappy feeling, isn't it? But it sounds like you had sentimental reasons for not giving it up, too.
My teenaged nephews have scores of these bands and they force my dad also to wear one! It is the craze in India right now. But I do not think anyone asked for it from them.
And I guess it happens to everyone, sometime you do not want to part with soemthing.
Momo-I haven't seen you in a while...and then all of a sudden I looked on your blog and you have two new posts. Crazy! Next time I take a trip to a third world country I think I will bring ten of the bracelets and see if I can give them away to children. Maybe that will help me. Maybe...
Mridula-So what was popular in the US is now big in India? That is cool that your dad is wearing one! I like that.
After reflecting about the experience I am really learning about myself. I like to think I'm a giving person but maybe not enough. I want to be selfless and truly be able to give all that I have. I would like to change that about myself. Nonetheless, I have learned from this.
I wore one for a long time after my father died. A friend bought one for each of our family members in his memory. I wore it everyday for quite some time, until teenagers were asking if they could have it or buy it off me. I refused. Eventually I stopped wearing it because it bothered me how many people showed absolutely no respect and kept trying to convince me to give it to them. I don't want to seem negative, but I bet there is a big market for them and those kids were trying to make a buck. Good for you for keeping something that meant something to you. Not everything should be dispensable. I regret that those kids affected me so, but I tried to make them understand what the meaning of the bracelet was, particularly to me. I doubt they cared, though.
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