Irony Becomes Her

A Tip Without Q

My sophomore English teacher in high school did an enlightening exercise once in class . Actually, she did this several times, but the following memory stands foremost in my thoughts. She held up an everyday household item and we were to write down what it was. There were about twenty items.

We were instructed to "grade" our own papers after the exercise was over and she gave us the answers. Where nearly all my classmates had written down "Kleenex," I wrote "facial tissue." For the bottle of glass cleaner, the majority had written down "Windex," for clear adhesive tape, "Scotch tape," for a small bandage, "Band-Aid," and for a cotton swab, "Q-tip."

I lucked out in seeing her point early in the test. Our thinking and language are shaped by a materialist consumer culture in ways we are not usually aware of. Even I, who "caught on," didn't even recognize the correct answer for the Styrofoam cup ("polystyrene cup") when it was given.

In using my mom's worthlessly small cotton balls this morning, I discovered whence the name for "Q-tips" came ; some British guy must have seen that this tiny version of a mop, a swab on the end of a cue, would have infinite possibilities. (At least, this should be the way it was; qtips.com says differently.) The size of these cotton balls brought to mind what the tips would be like without the Q. The vast majority of my English classmates, however, never gave it a moment's pause.

That's all I'm asking, really: a moment's pause. As long as we recognize it, I don't find this tendency insidious. You can call it a Post-it Note or a self-adhesive memo or whatever you want. To me, as Jane Austen might have said, "it doesn't signify."

But we are not our commodities. From all the conveniences our commercials tell us we "deserve" (one of advertising's darling words), we must be called continually back to "sell all your possessions and come, follow me." The stomach-wrenching effect of being asked to do that turns my attention to loosening my grip on stuff, but it isn't enough. If I should be called to live without cotton swabs or Q-tips for the sake of Christ, I must be prepared to do so.

"But please, Lord, not yet."

posted by Lynn @ 7:35 AM