Hello, I’m Shannon!

I’ve chosen to include two bags that I carry regularly and wear simultaneously – one as a cross body bag and one around my waist.

Why do I wear two bags at the same time? This must be a fashion ‘no-no’…but you’ll see why shortly.

My first bag, a cross body bag contains the following:

1. Phone
2. Keys
3. Cards including driver’s license, BCIT ID, BCAA membership, credit card, debit card
4. Sunglasses

1. Phone – the obvious ‘text technology’ and is used not only as a communication device, but also as a camera, an entertainment device, a notebook, a calendar, and a calculator. This technology allows me to communicate through text messages, emails, notes, and phone calls, capturing both the written and oral forms of ‘text’. The camera allows me to capture photos and videos, which is also arguably ‘text’ as they’re used to create content and used for storytelling on social media.

2. Keys – so many keys! For my home alone, there are several keys: a key FOB to enter the building, a key to enter my unit, and different keys for different parts of the building. Excitingly, I will soon get to exchange all these keys for a new set of keys later this week, as I am moving to a new home! I also have a key FOB for my car, a key to my office at work, and an air tag. On my key ring alone, there are 3 different ‘text technologies’ that communicate electronically with other devices. I am not able to see or hear the communication occurring, but it is happening in their own ‘language’. I also noticed icons on my key FOB for my car, subtlety providing information on the functions of each button. While not words, these icons are also ‘text’, used to inform and guide users’ actions.

3. My cards tell you that I can legally drive in Canada, that I work at BCIT, that I am a BCAA member, and that I have some trust in financial institutions as I have a credit and debit card. To elaborate on my role at BCIT, I am a Faculty member and teach accounting and business courses. I am a Chartered Professional Accountant (which you cannot tell from the contents of my bag, but may assume based on my position), and my experience in accounting led me to my current position. All these cards are ‘text technologies’ allowing me to communicate with others – either by physically showing / using my cards which contains text in the form of words and images, and electronically as the cards can electronically communicate with campus and governmental-systems.

4. Finally, my sunglasses. One may infer from this item that I live in an area where sunlight is present and may conclude that I like to be outside, which would be a correct assessment. I feel most at-peace when I am outside, surrounded by nature in some way, whether amongst trees in a trail or beside the ocean on a beach.

Moving onto my second bag that I wear around my waist.

It contains the following:

5. Ziplock bag full of dog treats

6. Poop bags

From the contents of this bag, one may determine that I am a dog owner. I have two dogs – Max and Obi, who are very much treated like members of the family. Max is an 11-year old Border Collie / Australian Shepherd and Obi is a 2-year old Chihuahua mix, rescued from Tijuana, Mexico. Both are extremely food motivated and were eager to see if treats were being passed out as part of this activity. I gave in…

   

On first glance, the bag of treats may not seem to relate to ‘text technologies’ but they do indicate a lot about how I communicate with my dogs. My training methods primarily involve positive reinforcement, where treats are used to reward behaviour that I would like to reinforce. The treat is the positive (pleasant) stimulus that is added, with the goal of reinforcing good behaviour that I want repeated. I communicate with my dogs using oral commands and gestures, both of which may be considered ‘text’!

The poop bags – they are used because it is socially acceptable to pick up after one’s dogs. I have never really thought about their design, but they are generally opaque and designed with dog-related icons (in this case paw prints), which indicates that its contents are dog-related, but should be ‘hidden’ from the public. I have yet to see clear poop bags and I am guessing that those would not be very popular!

So there you have it, the contents of two bags that I often carry, that contain more ‘text technologies’ than may initially meet the eye.

From the contents of my bags, I may be pegged as a minimalist person, carrying only the necessary items, capable of driving to/from the BCIT campus, and who carries the supplies needed to care for her dogs.

In the future, an archeologist may marvel at the fact that we had to carry so many fragmented items (e.g. keys, cards), as I imagine that our phones will soon serve as the single item needed. Services like Apple Pay have already diminished the need to carry physical banking cards, and with smart homes and cars, keys may quickly become obsolete.