I
probably should have created a name for this essay that is more
in line with the naming of the web site or the early days. But
since I know what got me started writing this essay… I’m not sure
what journey we’re really about to take… I don’t what neighborhoods
I might visit… nodding toward nicknames such as The ‘ville works
fine for now.
The
reality is, the start of this particular essay does involve an
e-mail.
The
other day, I was clearing out my inbox… you know the drill: read
this, put that aside, skip the one from mom until later, and the
ever-annoying because you delete without even needing to open
but it’s still a waste of time. On this particular day, I received
an e-mail the likes of which is not frequent but definitely falls
into a common occurrence for that latter category.
Can
you possibly imagine the material I receive just because I use
the word backpack in the title of my web site?
Seriously…
let’s pause for a moment. If I said “backpack” to you, and you
couldn’t visit even for a quick look, just consider what might
be a part of the web site.
Many
people—the long-time repeat visitors—know that the name for this
web site was created from a swirling chaos of ideas. Two of the
main contributors were:
The
Mom Bag – It references whatever bag my mother was carrying
when the family went on vacation. When any of the kids needed
something, the usual direction provided: “Mom has it in her
bag.” The bag served as a source of everything and anything,
and for me developed into a catch-all of sorts.
My
college backpack – Books for classes. Clothes for trips. Shopping…
studying… visiting… whatever. It would not be a stretch to say
I lived out of my backpack during college. And, in the years
since, a backpack continues to be the preferred item of choice
for me when it comes to carrying stuff around.
End
result, short and sweet version, the In My Backpack web
site has essentially been a place that holds my writing. A lot
of my writing. Finished efforts and scraps of ideas. And, as time
has moved along, that idea of a home for my writing has expanded.
Books and essays and pictures and more. All sorts of projects
running all over the place. If it’s something I’m working on,
and it needs a place to reside on the internet, it has a place
in Backpackville.
Ok…
back to the e-mail.
The
trick, of course, is that if you pull up your search engine of
choice and look around for information about backpack, you are
not going to find stories about mom bags and college classes.
What you will find is backpacks. And most of the results will
quite likely be backpacks for sale.
This
of course means that I get e-mails about all of the backpacks
I must be selling. And, would I consider this sender’s company
to supply my needs for my consumers. (Which… of course… as you
know, I won’t.)
I
can still recall the first times I received such e-mails. I looked
a few of them over in depth, and read most at least in part before
deleting them. Eventually, I learned to recognize most of them
without even needing to see more than two or three words from
the subject line preview.
Let’s
face it… we’re not exactly dealing with the most complex of deductions
skills here. Anyone that has visited my web site for at least
ten seconds understands I am not selling camping gear, hiking
equipment, and filling assorted outdoor equipment needs. You won’t
find pages of sleeping bags and sturdy shoes around the In
My Backpack web site. In fact, if we can be literal about
it, you won’t find any backpacks for sale.
(Forgive
me on that backpacks for sale idea though. I’d love to sell a
few books… and we do have a logo with a dog holding a backpack…
so at least to some degree, figurative in nature as it may lean,
there could be some sales to consider.)
The
point is, you will not find backpacks for sale in any way that
should get a wholesaler or product provider or salesperson of
any type excited about approaching me for an order. Right?
Still,
the e-mails arrive.
Those
in the tech world would explain all sorts of possibilities to
me. Spiders and crawlers and bots and such. The common element
is simple: no people.
And
when you get a non-person exploring a site that repeatedly uses
the word backpack, well, we see where it’s going. One of two places:
1
– This person needs our inventory of backpacks to supply customers.
2
– This person needs access to the 24/7 opportunities afforded
by Canadian pharmaceuticals. (This one is a different essay
entirely, and included as a joke, but the information about
it arrives more often than offers on backpack inventories.)
For
me, the reality is neither. I mean, yes, of course I would love
to find out there is a market for a line of backpacks with my
logo on it (provided there is some money I could make in the process).
That said, chances are good that when the In My Backpack
product line begins we probably will test out a coffee mug or
such first.
Until
then, I get to wade through the offers being sent my way. And
I get to wonder if any of them were in any way generated by a
person that actually clicked the send button. Or, was the entire
process generated by a program of some type?
For
now, I have essays to write and books to finish and a schedule
to sort out. No backpacks for sale around here. (Although, for
the right price, I could hook you up with an autographed print
of a really cute puppy.)