The Artefacts That are Part of Us

It occurred to me recently that each of us has a small number of items that never really leave us, are always within range and without which we would feel as if we had lost maybe not always a limb, but certainly a digit.



With me the deepest level, is certain items of jewellery. I never remove either my crucifix or my Claddagh ring, and I only take my watch off to avoid contact with water, so the naked Crushed, is never as naked as nature intended.

Beyond that, if I'm even half dressed, my keys and wallet are almost certainly in my right hand trouser pocket. The only other place they'd ever be, would be on the bedside table. Or on the desk I'm sitting at now.
If I'm ever wondering round the flat looking for my keys, it's a sure sign we had a party at the weekend.
And they're in the sofa.
By and large I never lose track of them.

My mobile phone is another object that is unlikely to leave my sight, except when I'm in the bathroom.



I hate tiny little phones, they're useless when I'm trashed, so I have the largest still on the market, as you can see.

In the flat, it either sits beside the bed, on the left arm of the sofa, or to the left of the PC. Odd, because I'm right handed, but I tend to sit on the left of the sofa (it's more central to the room), and the housephone is to the right of the PC.

Few people ring on the housephone. It's strange how people always diall the mobile even when they know your home number.

Otherwise, my phone is generally in the right hand pocket of my jacket, though at work and the pub, it sits in front of me.
Where it has company.

These are two items which I always make sure I have immediate access to.
Twenty Embassy and a lighter.
At home, this isn't a problem, they are dispensable items, and if lost, can be bought from the shop nextdoor.
So I frequently lose packets and lighters, can't be bothered to look for them and just go and buy more.
And then the missing ones turn up.



But if I'm out, the cigarettes are generally in the left jacket pocket, the lighter in the right.
I think this is probably because I take the cigarette out of the packet with my right hand, holding the packet in my left, so I put the packet back in the left hand pocket. Since I light the cigarette with my right hand, I put the lighter in that pocket.

The last item I always have on me outside of the flat, apart from personal documentation, is my sunglasses. I'm quite sensitive to light and need them most of the year. It really annoys me when I hear people deriding people for wearing sunglasses in the Winter.
I point out that they protect you from too much sunLIGHT, not too much sunHEAT.
The time of year is irrelevant.

Anyway, I pretty much can't be outdoors in the daytime for much of the year without them. I'd get knocked down by traffic.

So my shades are always in my left inside pocket, with my passport, driving license and pretty much everything that is me, and yes, I'm always getting told off for it, and yes, my best mate always insists I empty my pockets before we go out on a Friday night.
He's right of course.

Maybe it's just me, but don't we all have objects we just can't do without?