Rubber band bracelets: be in the loop
Those colorful loops of rubber should be quite familiar to you
by now. Yes, we are talking about rubber band bracelets. They
have become ubiquitous in the last couple of years. You can see
them on the wrists of Tsunami aid workers, citizens campaigning
for a cause, and even the on wrists of school children.
The rubber band bracelets have become the most-preferred and the
most inexpensive way to show your support for a cause, or to
donate to charity, or to raise awareness about an issue or a
disease. You can see them used for extremely different purposes,
such as to proclaim one's religious affiliation, or as a fashion
statement! The rubber band bracelet is the modern way of wearing
your heart on your sleeve, er wrist!
What are rubber band bracelets? They are simply loops of solid
rubber, worn on the wrist by stretching and sliding them over
the palm of one's hands. They come in any color imaginable --
yellow, orange, blue, green, black, pink... Some are
translucent, others glow in the dark... And they are worn in
support of many a message or cause -- they are as versatile as
they are stretchable! Not all rubber band bracelets are rubber,
though. Some of them are made of silicone.
You can have any message stamped over the rubber band bracelets,
or designs crafted on them. In fact, some of the latest rubber
band bracelets sport more than one message! Rubber band
bracelets usually sell for $1-5 a piece, and can be ordered
online from many Web sites, in multiples of five hundred, or
smaller packs of a dozen or more. The manufacturers often give
discounts for the larger orders.
The most famous of the rubber band bracelets is the yellow
'Livestrong' wristband worn by cycling champion and cancer
survivor Lance Armstrong. The pink ones are worn to show support
to breast cancer patients. SHeDAISY's 'Come Home Soon' yellow
rubber band bracelets (named for the group's Top 15 single) with
the words 'Come Home Soon' stamped on them are highly popular
among relatives of American servicemen.
The rubber band bracelet is a very useful and inexpensive tool
for crowd control: it is used as a cheap identifying device in
restricted access events attended by large numbers of people,
such as music concerts. The rubber band bracelets are also
issued by hospitals to their patients as identifying devices
with some basic medical information stamped on them.
So what makes these rubber band bracelets so popular?
Sociologists say people have always used amulets in times of
trouble. Now we are just using them in a more positive way. Yes,
rubber band bracelets are more than simple loops of rubber; they
represent the human urge to fight and survive great odds.