Fadz R Us

I think sometime in my misbegotten youth I owned a mood ring which, of course, turned my finger green and therefore put me in a foul mood which was, perhaps, its intended purpose. You never know when the diabolical is part of someone’s motivation. After that I became immune to most fads, including Hula Hoops, Pet Rocks, Beanie Babies and Facebook. I did, however, own a series of Frisbees; a fad that has never really died out has it?

I am never, or almost so, in the company of pre-pubescent children so I pretty much relegate them to background noise in my kindly but curmudgeonly way. This afternoon, however, I bumped into a neighbor who has two little girls, I think about 6 and 8, and both of them had a bunch of colorful rubber bands around their wrists. Upon inquiry I was informed in no uncertain terms (by the younger one) that these were “Silly Bandz” (with a “Z”!) and it seems they are the latest thing in childhood tomfoolery. The older of the two whipped off a light blue one and gave it to me and, once it was removed from her wrist, reverted to its manufactured shape, being in the shape of a penguin. I said the proper wows and woohoos and tried to return it to her but she insisted I keep it. I thanked her sincerely and put it on my own wrist, where it still resides as we speak.

I was properly overwhelmed by her generosity but not as much as her mother was. Although exceptionally low-tech these “bandz” have evidently become prized possessions and they are collected, hoarded and traded and, since school districts are starting to ban them from the classrooms, they have become contraband and therefore even more prized--as a good craze should be. Unlike other fads Silly Bandz are really, really cheap and even when they break they are easily (and cheaply) replaced.

They come in numerous configurations: pet shapes, princess shapes (shown here), rock bandz, wild animals, sea creatures, western gear, baseball stuff and piratez with, I betcha, a lot more to come. Some even glow in the dark! WooHoo! So far Silly Bandz seem to be an east coast phenomenon but it ain’t gonna be long before you’ll be noticing them at a bandztand near you. You have been warned. Hey, wait a minute, is my wrist turning blue?

Update June 21, 2010: I attended an art fair over the weekend and, instead of the normal ink-stamped wrist to attain in/out privileges, we were givin a silly band to wear. Mine was a shark. Very clever, very cool.