Hi everyone. My name is Momina Abid and I am currently living in Toronto, ON. Presently, I am a stay at home mom to an almost 8 month old. Previously, I have worked in a wide range of roles, my most recent one being a Learning Designer and teaching coding to students and teachers across Canada. This is my last MET course.
For this task, I chose the bag I have been carrying around everyday for nearly a decade now.
I’ve been carrying around this bag with pretty much the same items for years now. Even after going through major life changes such as graduating from college, getting a job, getting married, moving countries, and then having a baby, the contents have more or less remained the same. I find that this size and these contents work best for me when I am on the go, no matter what phase of life I am in.
For instance, having a hand cream has always been a constant because I have very dry hands which really irritate me. I am also a no-makeup person, so having a lipstick that I can apply during commute makes me look ready for the day. I also always keep a hairclip because I hate when my hair gets in my face. I also always keep some cash on me in case I need to use it. Even though almost everywhere you go now, you have the option to pay digitally but I still encounter people only accept cash transactions.
I have a cardholder which holds all of my important cards such as credit and debit card, Driver’s license, and health card. Even though all payments can now be done via phone, I still like to keep my cards handy in case my phone dies. After Covid-19, sanitizer became a common item in my bag. And I always keep a pad in case I start my period out of the blue and do not have access to one. The key is to a storage locker where my sister in law’s furniture is stored as she is in the process of moving. Not pictured here but usually in my bag are my own house keys as well as my phone and any receipts I may have acquired during the day. However, I clean out my bag regularly so you will not find any extras or things not needed in here.
The items in my bag have a lot of printed text on them giving them a name, identifying manufacturer, instructions of use among other things. There is a lot of text on the cards I carry as well. Especially my driver’s license which includes my current home address and other personal details. The hand creams and lipsticks were made in different countries, and bought from different countries around the world. They have text in different languages apart from English as well. And they all have a barcode as well. The cards I carry also have barcodes or microchips embedded into them. All of these things show that communication in today’s world is not limited to words only. It also takes place via numbers, patterns, and microprocessors.
Since I am in my late twenties, this bag would not have existed 15 or 25 years ago. I only started carrying one, once I moved out of my parents’ home and started college.
An archeologist would be able to identify that this bag belonged to a female, younger than the average age for menopause, and would know exactly where I lived and in which time period (probably post COVID-19). Also would be able to guess the languages I used to speak, my banking preferences, my ability to drive, and my obsession with hand creams.