My roommate took this photo of me on a random weekday while I was heading out for work. I usually would just bring my bag, but it has been raining this week so I brought my umbrella.

As the global pandemic continues to affect how we live and work, I need to wear facial mask same as everyone else. And if you live in British Columbia, starting from September 13, 2021, many facilities would require proof of vaccination before entering or using their facility. Therefore, I applied for a BC vaccine card and saved a screenshot of the vaccine card on my phone.

In British Columbia, there are many ways of proving our identity. For example, if the policeman approaches you and asks for your ID, you could provide them either one of this identification, such as passport, BCID, BC Driver’s License, BC Services Card. Now adding up to the list, an individual needs to show a BC vaccine card before dining out at a restaurant. I reserve my comments for enforcing the BC vaccine card policy.

Reflective questions:

How do we prove who we are if we have lost all identification? (Think about what's happening in Afghanistan, millions of people have lost their home and their identification. Many flee to other countries as refugees.)
How has text technologies affected our life, positively or negatively?

Here you see my look for the day.

• What would you guess my job is?
• What can you tell from my look?
• Other than occupation, age, and style, what else can you capture from this photo?
• Would you be able to tell my ethnicity, cultural background, personality, or characteristics, simply from this photo?

I understand it may be tough for you to read a person simply from the outward. Now let me offer you a little more insight by showing you what I bring with me daily. After seeing these items in the bag, you may be able to make a more accurate judgment on who I am and what I do.

Items in My Bag

Line 1: car key, office key & fob, home keys & fob, hairband

Line 2: thermos, work phone, personal phone, wallet, my bag

Line 3: little notebook, pen, lipstick, sunglasses

What do possessions or personal belongings say about an individual's social status, marital status, education, career, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and etc?

Imagine a plumber driving a sports car to work, isn’t that a little odd? Not saying it’s unlikely to happen, but it’s rare. Now imagine a senior financial advisor who works at a highly profitable financial company, drives a red 812 GTS Ferrari. Not implying every financial advisor could afford a fancy sports car. My point is your possession does speak for who you are, what you do, and how you live.

I like everything organized and clean, that’s why you don’t see any redundant items in my bag. Everything I carry with me is being used every day. In fact, I would get rid of or give away things regularly, things that I don’t need or use anymore, to allow space for clarity and tidiness.

If there is an emergency in the workplace and I need to exit the building as quickly as possible, without hesitation, I would grab my top three items: phones, wallet, and keys. What would be your top three items to bring with you in an emergency?

If there is an emergency at home, I would definitely bring two of my cats with me. In fact, that did happen once when the fire alarm go off in the building I live, I quickly grabbed my cats and took the staircase to the exterior of the building. It was a very fun experience seeing many others who did the same thing, so it somehow turned into a pets “party”.

It’s also interesting to see how everyone organizes things and what they carry with them daily. After hearing Lera Boroditsky’s TED Talk on How the languages we speak shape the way we think, I realize not everyone organizes things from left to right. In many other cultures, time, numbers, body language, and hand gestures are viewed and communicated differently. That is really fascinating!

Text Technologies

Keys & fobs

I admit that I can’t afford to lose them all at once, so I divided them into three sets: car key, office key & fob, and home keys & fob. And to avoid virus transmission and for hygiene reasons, I sanitize them with 70% alcohol at least twice a day. Wondering how many others are doing the same thing in the global pandemic?

It seems really user-friendly to tap in and get access to a door or a building. However, I’ve always had doubts about technology safety. Speaking of information safety and technology safety, what kind of safety hazards may be there for the tapping services? Imagine you tapped your credit card, and someone stole your information and your money. Hopefully, you’ve never experienced that, but in reality, many cases of identity theft have happened. Therefore, It’s vital to protect your identification both virtually and physically.

HAIRBAND

It is always a mystery how a girl loses her hairband. Get another one and lost again, repetitively. I guess only girls can relate to this feeling. This one is a gift from a friend of mine because I ran out of my own stock. Oh sure, I don’t mind you laughing at me.

Thermos

If it were 15 years ago, you wouldn’t find me carrying a thermos with warm water or goji berry tea. I would be in grade 8 back then, drinking ice cold Coca-Cola, 100% sugar bubble tea, or artificial-color smoothie. I don’t know about other cultures or generations, but for Asian millennials, yes, maturity means taking care of ourselves physically, by having a thermos with hot warm goji berry tea, and wearing long johns without mom’s reminder.

Phones

Fortunately, I can easily separate work and life with two phones. During office hours on weekdays, I need to stay alert for any incoming phone calls and messages. My typical workday would be like, three screens running in front of me, and I need to be attentive to all incoming messages from Outlook, Gmail, Microsoft Teams, WeChat, Instagram. Phone calls, text messages, zoom meetings are included as well.

Wallet

I only carry cash with me occasionally. Most times, I only bring cards for payment. Fast backward to 10 or 15 years ago, I used cash almost every single day. Cash was the rule back in the old times, but not anymore. Nowadays, online payment and tapping payment are the normality. As a matter of fact, many merchandises encourage card payment to lower the risk of virus transmission.

E-wallet has also been trendy among young generations, for example, Alipay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Amazon Pay. Cash VS Electronic money. Which one do you prefer using? And what are the pros and cons of each currency?

Perhaps you have seen since fiction about what the future shopping looks like, it sounds interesting but it comes with benefits and disadvantages. Justin Pritchard and Khadija Khartit discussed the pros and cons of moving to a cashless society. How do you view this?

Other items

I also bring a pen and a small notebook with me in case I need to write notes. Even though my phones can make notes easily and transmit momentarily through text messages or emails, I enjoy the feeling of writing something down on a piece of paper. There are 6,000 languages on earth as Dr. Lera Boroditsky stated. So I doubt the archeologist can decipher my handwriting. Similarly, current archaeologists are still figuring out Maya civilization.

Lipstick and sunglasses do not reflect much about text technology. If I have to name one, I’d say thanks to online shopping has dramatically changed people’s shopping habits. With express check-out on Amazon, and credit card online payment, I can receive whatever I ordered, speaking of which, the new iPhone 13 is recently released and now receiving reservations.