The first time I encountered Silly Bandz was while I was standing on line for airport security on my way to India back in May.
An adorable little girl was pestering her father as he was fumbling for their passports to guess what they were. I really couldn’t tell, but she knew. One was a flamingo. Another was a car. And still another was a yellow star. They were all different colors and I think I even overheard her saying that one of them was glow in the dark. I didn’t think about Silly Bandz that much for the next two and a half months. What I did remember thinking was: So that’s what kids are up to these days, as memories of Pokemon cards, tamagotchi, Dunkaroos, and all those other childhood fads whizzed by.
But then came August. August 17 to be exact. I returned to Yale a few weeks early to lead pre-frosh on four-to-six-day-long hiking trips. Yes, FOOT was in the air. Most FOOT leaders came up with themes for their groups of eight to ten pre-frosh we lovingly called FOOTies. From Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Avatar to just plain flannel. My co-leader Jose and I thought of Pokemon Cards and…SILLY BANDZ? We thought it would be a good combination of the old and the new. It had been long enough since Pokemon last aired for us to feel okay about being nostalgic about them. Plus, who hadn’t played with Pokemon? (Embarrassingly, I wasn’t too into it. But I do remember Bulbosaur….and Pikachu, of course.) So we bought some LooneyTunes Silly Bandz and a mystery box.
The true test was when our FOOTies arrived on campus. Mike wanted nothing to do with the Silly Bandz (but he was fine with sticking a Pokemon card on his bandanna). Jose and I looked at each other. Wow, this would be a dud. But by the time the rest of the crew arrived, everyone was on board. Silly Bandz became the stuff of lore. Some even said some FOOT groups got silly bandz when they pooped in the woods (http://yaleherald.com/arts/silly-bandz-silly-banned-by-some-new-haven-sc…). By the time school rolled around, Silly Bandz were totally the “it” thing. Everyone was wearing them. Maybe as angsty teenagers, we liked doing things that were banned in the rest of New Haven. Maybe we loved them because it was such a passive and subtle fad. You didn’t have to clean up its poop, inject it with medicine so it didn’t fall sick, or play games with it (Tamagotchi). You didn’t have to play or collect their cards or duel (Magic Card, Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon). All you had to do was wear them. And sometimes trade them (only if you really wanted to). And they could also be a great conversation starter with that cute boy in your section.
But, I think, most importantly of all, we love them because they come in all shapes and sizes.