The other day I found this pencil case abandoned on the floor in the library. I set it on my desk in the hopes that whoever lost it would see it and reclaim it, and in the meantime it became an object of curiosity. Is that a dinosaur? And what is the dinosaur doing?
It looked to me like the dinosaur was either smoking or shooting a gun. As a fellow teacher remarked, "Either one would be inappropriate."
Lo and behold, a few days later, a high schooler walking by saw it and grabbed it. I asked if it was hers and she said yes, and I asked for the story behind the dinosaur. Was it smoking or shooting? "I don't even know," she said, looking at it quizzically.
More research being warranted, I loaded the closeup above into Google. It took me a while to wade through the results, a slew of dinosaur cartoons -- including one of a dinosaur smoking a joint, which is an option I hadn't even considered. (But which would explain feigned ignorance on the part of the teenager.)
But forget about that because I finally found the exact image, a product of a cheerful Korean outfit called Joguman Studio. The caption reads, "I am a herbivore. But that doesn't mean I can't kill you."
Aha. Gun it is.
I'm sure that probably violates some school policy, but it's a tiny image and as I found, not readily decipherable. I'm letting it slide, especially since I now can't remember whose pencil case it is. Looking at my top picture again, I see that the pencil case has a manufacturer's tag, so why I didn't just look at that rather than going through all the rigmarole above, I'm not sure.
Um, I can see it is a smoking gun. Maybe your glasses aren't quite right yet.
ReplyDeleteBut I wasn't the only one who was confused! Even the kid who owns it didn't know!
DeleteWhat is your own pencil case like Steve? I imagine that it is a souvenir one - promoting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or some other NFL team. Apart from a couple of plastic sachets of suspicious white powder, what else do you keep in there?
ReplyDeleteEven when I was in school, I don't think I had a pencil case!
DeleteI quite like all the other ephemera on your desk!
ReplyDeleteIt's an ever-changing landscape of junque.
DeleteI immediately thought the dinosaur was smoking a joint.
ReplyDeleteThings are changing I guess. Back in my day, nobody in high school would be carrying around a pencil case like that. That was only something you did in elementary school. Why does a high schooler need that many pencils, pens and such to make it through the day?
Art class?
DeleteI don't remember whether my friends carried pencil cases or not. I never did, but maybe, as River said, there are circumstances where you might need a lot of writing/drawing utensils.
DeleteSounding very much like my father and grandfather, "In my day, Art Class always provided us with whatever we needed to use." But I know with two kids of my own that had huge required lists of supplies I had to buy before every school year, times they are a changin'.
DeleteI'm w/Ed: I immediately thought it was a joint.
ReplyDeleteIt's so funny! A joint never even occurred to me but now it seems so obvious.
DeleteFunnily enough, the dinosaur smoking a joint was my first reaction (although I have never smoked at all, neither cigarettes or joints).
ReplyDeleteI smoked both in college a handful of times, but thankfully neither habit took hold!
DeletePencil cases, suitably decorated of course used to be standard for girls. Mind you it would be impossible to fit a laptop or table in one.
ReplyDeleteI see boys with them too now and then.
DeleteI can see why you wouldn't know -- I wouldn't be able to tell either!
ReplyDeleteSo whimsical it's indecipherable!
DeleteGreat, now the dinosaurs have guns, too!
ReplyDeleteWell, don't they deserve Second Amendment rights?!
DeleteFrankly, I thought it was a joint.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's supposed to be a double-entendre.
DeleteLike JayCee, I'm interested in 'everything else' on your desk. I see the parrot still has its sales tag.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to photograph what's on my desk and give everyone the backstory, not that it's very exciting.
DeleteI simply thought "cigarette"... but all the potheads immediately jumped to a joint! LOL
ReplyDeleteA joint is probably more likely these days!
DeleteI saw gun, and I don't know what that says about me!
ReplyDeleteIt means you're American, and Southern. I'm in the same boat!
DeleteIt violates a school policy? I'm glad you didn't say report her to authorities, it's a cartoon. If even cartoons are subject to these rules, no more Wile E. Coyote, Bugs Bunny, or Yosemite Sam.
ReplyDeleteI suspect we have a policy against clothing featuring depictions of guns, though I'm not sure about that. (And who knows whether it extends to school supplies!)
DeleteCodex: Gary Larson humor
ReplyDeleteDefinitely!
DeleteYou made me laugh. That sounds like something I would do.
ReplyDeleteIt does seem like a strange image for a pencil bag.
They're going for quirky, I guess.
DeleteIt seems such an odd patch to put on a pencil bag for export to USA, land of school shootings.
ReplyDeleteAs to the rigamarole? It is not the journey but the destination...
Off to find the source of the word 'rigamarole'.
Yeah, but on the other hand, they probably know America loves its guns!
DeleteI am embarrassed to say that when I commented I had forgotten completely that you are not in the US.
Deletehttps://www.etymonline.com/word/rigmarole
ReplyDeleteWell, THAT's interesting. I never stopped to think where the word comes from, but I would not have guessed "ragman roll."
DeleteYou notice some interesting details, We miss so much by ignoring some little things.
ReplyDeleteI'm always on the lookout for oddities!
DeleteI was sure he was smoking. Puff the magic -- dino??
ReplyDeleteThe question is, what's he smoking? There's a reason he's magic!
DeleteThe puff of smoke coming from the dinosaur is so obscure who would know a gun is involved.
ReplyDeleteI like the pencil case and would simply let the obscure gun detail slide.
The owner must be happy to have her unique pencil case again.
Apparently the student who owns it has done just that -- she apparently never really looked at the details.
DeleteI don't think I would want one.
ReplyDeleteHa! I'm fine with a photo!
DeleteMy first thought was a gun. Actually, it would make a good place to keep one's "stash". Back in the day, folks used those purple Crown Royal bags!
ReplyDeleteOh, I remember those bags! We used to play with them when we were kids (and we could get ahold of one -- my parents didn't buy Crown Royal).
DeleteA smoking gun indeed! My older daughter and her husband don't allow any weaponry in their house or violent shows yet their 5 year old turns anything and everything into a gun. My daughter is nonplussed.
ReplyDeleteGuns (and images of guns) are everywhere in our culture. They are inescapable.
DeleteI love that dinosaur
ReplyDeleteI liked it too! Looks like that studio has a lot of cute stuff.
DeleteDespite its questionable appropriateness, I gotta say, I love it. More dinosaurs should have had guns, lol.
ReplyDeleteHa! Guns wouldn't have saved them from that comet, though.
DeleteBecause you can. The teen probably doesn't know about the gunfire.
ReplyDeleteApparently not!
DeleteBeen away for a while, sorry to hear about Dave, hope he continues to improve.
ReplyDeleteThanks. He's feeling OK -- kind of mystified about the heart rate, to be honest.
DeletePoor Dave. As a former arrhythmia sufferer, I can tell you it is unpleasant. Hopefully the docs will get it sorted.
ReplyDeleteHe said he feels nothing. He was surprised it was so high.
DeleteYou got me really interested - glad you came up with the answer. I love solving things like this.
ReplyDeleteWendy (Wales)
Me too!
DeleteI'd say because going through all that rigmarole was fun. I thought it was a dinosaur with a vape, and the "smoke" was steam.
ReplyDeleteA vape is a good guess! Probably a better guess than a real cigarette in this day and age.
DeleteI thought it was smoking a cigarette as in what really killed the dinosaurs.
ReplyDelete