The Things I Carry

         This article brought me back to when our class read, The Things They Carry. It was an interesting article about a traveler and the electronics needed for his job. The main question asked in this essay was, Is all of this stuff really made to make our lives easier? Author, Patrick Smith, seems to believe that in fact all of these gadgets are necessary as a journalist, but they are actually making his life harder. He did not even own a cell phone until 2006 and now he is carrying around all of these things to and from cities. He states his thesis as, "All of this, supposedly, to keep us “connected.” To make our lives easier and more productive. Does it?" (Smith). It is crazy to think that we really need all of these electronics, but some people do. If you have an iPhone, then you need the charger and then the connector and then you MacBook, but your camera does not work with the Mac connector so you need to get a different one and soon enough you have more wires than an electrician.
        Some people consider all of these things necessities, but are they really? I know that I could probably travel without some of these things, but Smith is a journalist who needs all of these to stay connected to his job. I feel bad for him, having to carry all of this around all the time, but I think he wanted to sympathy. If I was traveling I would most likely bring my phone and its charger, but I don't have a camera or laptop of my own, so that would cut down on the amount of cords. I always have my iPod and my headphones and my Burt's Bees lip balm along with a pack of gum and hand sanitizer. When I think about it, I too carry around probably more than I need, but hey, its the things that I carry.

http://www.salon.com/2012/02/15/the_things_i_carry/