This site needs a redesign.

My Freshman year in college I lived in the dorms. As such, there were all kinds of subsidized and standardized sorts of things that were set up to make you less homesick, more productive, more matriculated, etc. One of which, was a care package that your parents could elect to “send” you during Hell Week (you know, Finals week?). From what I can remember, it contained things like microwave popcorn, granola bars, headache stuff, a sample of No-Doze, and a mug.

The mug was a plastic affair, that had the school seal on the side surrounded by the words: Official Mug of the Finals Week Survivor. Presumably, it was for all of the coffee you needed to drink for your late-night cram sessions. Not being one who drinks coffee (and instead prefers the caffeine derived from aluminum cans), I never really used my mug, or scrutinized it too closely. Now though, in this work-a-day world, I drink water on a fairly regular basis (still no coffee) and need something to drink out of that won’t break itself when dropped, or my heart when lost. Enter Finals Week mug.

Now that I have a much more interactive relationship with my cup of choice, I spent the time today to actually look at it. To my surprise, what I thought was my school seal, is actually a generic one. There are some indistinct symbols representing what I think are books, pens, pencils, and a small trophy that says “World Class Student” on it, surrounded by some vine graphics and a “seal” border.

What does this mean? Nothing actually. I just thought it was funny how cheated I felt, a full 7 years later, by the non-personalizing Whirley Industries…