A few posts ago, I made reference to one of my favorite scenes in the movie Joe vs. The Volcano. It’s the scene where a luggage salesman helps Joe select the right luggage for his trip. I don’t know why this scene cracks me up so much, but I suspect it’s because this guy reminds me of me: obscenely passionate about something totally pointless, like good bags.
Anyway, enjoy the clip!
Joe vs. The Volcano Luggage Salesman
Yesterday included several nice pick-me-ups:
This morning, I was thinking about bags — like the kind you keep your laptop and notebooks in, not the kind that form under your eyes. To be totally honest, I think about bags more than normal people, so this wasn’t an unusual train of thought for me. Sometimes I feel like I’m that luggage guy from Joe vs. The Volcano…
Luggage Salesman: Have you thought much about luggage, Mr. Banks?
Joe Banks: No.
Luggage Salesman: It’s the central preoccupation of my life.
[…]
Luggage Salesman: This is our premier steamer trunk, it’s all handmade, only the finest materials. It’s even watertight, tight as a drum. If I had the need, and the wherewithal, Mr. Banks, this would be my trunk of choice.
Joe Banks: I’ll take four of them.
Luggage Salesman: May you live to be a thousand years old, sir.
As I walked from my parking lot into work, I watched a row of people who all had very different bags. One guy had a shiny black leather case with buckles, the second guy had one of those corporate-issue kevlar bags that comes for free with a corporate-issue laptop, and the third guy had some funny bag that was made out of wood.
In fact, I know the third guy from work. He’s a designer, so it makes sense that he would have a unique bag. That got me to thinking that, if I knew the other two guys, their bag choices would probably make sense also. I have a feeling that, generally speaking, peoples’ bags say a lot about them. And doesn’t that make sense? We all know that people judge by sight, and the first thing you’re often seen with is your bag. It says a lot about the kind of person you are and the work you do.
So what kind of bag do I have? I’m glad you asked.
I have a Tom Bihn bag called the ID. (In fact, it’s the same one in the picture on his website: black/steel/wasabi.) This bag is phenomenal. Honestly, I could write a blog post every day about why I like this bag and why his company appeals to me. But to get a sense, I recommend reading his FAQ page.
I’m not sure what having the ID says about me, except perhaps that I care a lot about bag quality! It’s an extremely sturdy bag, cleanly styled, with a moderate number of pockets. It’s big enough for a laptop, change of clothes, a notebook, and accessories — so it’s great for overnight business trips. But it’s small enough to discourage overloading (e.g. bringing more books than you could reasonably use).
So what kind of bag do you have? And what does it say about you?