I find that as a newly made responsible adult that I am constantly finding ways to revert back to my childhood, as many people in their early twenties and beyond constantly are. We buy gadgets to sublimate for toys. We join club sports leagues in place of after school games. And for many of us, like myself, who are on a limited income, we bring our lunch to work, instead of to the classroom.
Making my lunch becomes a nightly ritual that I have found somewhat enjoyable as I decide what I will eat the following day; how it will be a slight variation on the day or two days before. In an effort to to keep the excitement going while concurrently jumping back a decade in time, I have found myself scouring the web for lunch boxes. And not just any lunch boxes, metal lunch boxes of the "old school" variety with characters from a past life, where PBS was the highlight of my morning (and possibly my--at the time--stay at home father's as well).
It's hard to pinpoint exactly what makes a perfect lunch box, though my roommate (who has recently joined the hourdes of lunch bringers) and I have certainly tried. Iming back and forth our favorites we wandered through the web looking for the right fit. So many of what we found were soft and "insulated", with sports team logos or just plain navy blue. It seems that both she and I agreed, we wanted metal, square and something from an era where Dora the explorer and Pixar were not even around yet.
What is fascinating is that she and I are not the only ones who are in the market for some old time fun. Websites like lunchboxes.com stay around probably for people who collect lunch boxes, a practice I find strange since they aren't the most attractive items. It made me wonder what the kids now-a-days carry their lunches in or if they are bred on the Kraft lunchables that were so popular and "cool" in my day. Do kids still trade items from their lunches or is everything now so delicious and processed that kids can get chubby and happy on their own foods?
One thing is for sure, whatever the kids are doing now, so many of us, I'm sure, can agree that we wish we were doing it too, instead of this daily grind we've been relegated to.
Making my lunch becomes a nightly ritual that I have found somewhat enjoyable as I decide what I will eat the following day; how it will be a slight variation on the day or two days before. In an effort to to keep the excitement going while concurrently jumping back a decade in time, I have found myself scouring the web for lunch boxes. And not just any lunch boxes, metal lunch boxes of the "old school" variety with characters from a past life, where PBS was the highlight of my morning (and possibly my--at the time--stay at home father's as well).
It's hard to pinpoint exactly what makes a perfect lunch box, though my roommate (who has recently joined the hourdes of lunch bringers) and I have certainly tried. Iming back and forth our favorites we wandered through the web looking for the right fit. So many of what we found were soft and "insulated", with sports team logos or just plain navy blue. It seems that both she and I agreed, we wanted metal, square and something from an era where Dora the explorer and Pixar were not even around yet.
What is fascinating is that she and I are not the only ones who are in the market for some old time fun. Websites like lunchboxes.com stay around probably for people who collect lunch boxes, a practice I find strange since they aren't the most attractive items. It made me wonder what the kids now-a-days carry their lunches in or if they are bred on the Kraft lunchables that were so popular and "cool" in my day. Do kids still trade items from their lunches or is everything now so delicious and processed that kids can get chubby and happy on their own foods?
One thing is for sure, whatever the kids are doing now, so many of us, I'm sure, can agree that we wish we were doing it too, instead of this daily grind we've been relegated to.
What we chose:
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one fo the best swags i got last year was the Fallout 3 lunchbox! it's totally metal and old school. it rocks.
ReplyDeleteKudos on the new blog, look forward to seeing what shenanigans you shall write about! :)
ReplyDeleteI still have my lunch boxes from growing up...Snoopy and Scooby-Doo. I've always wanted to dust them off to reuse, but after 20 plus years, there's a funky smell in them. I might have left some food in it! :-)
I think there is some merit in having kept something from your childhood. I also think that you could clean out your lunch boxes (it might take a few times) if you so desired to use them for their original purpose. I bet people would even compliment you on your vintage style.
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