This morning, I noticed that I somehow managed to obliterate one of my keys, and, until now, I considered that an impossible feat. Sure, I have heard many stories of people snapping their keys in a lock, but I hadn't ever considered the possibility of damaging the gripped portion. I guess I managed to prove myself wrong. All it took was a quick trip to Home Depot to salvage the situation and get me back on the road of life, but removing that key from the ring drew my attention to the placement of each of the other keys. From a quick glance, people might think the arrangement of my keys is, like most everyone else's, haphazard, a random assortment of pieces thrown together in a truly utilitarian manner, but they would be wrong. There are specific reasons for everything from the contents to the condition to the arrangement, and it speaks, in a way, to my sentimental side.
Let's start with the plastic. Starting on the left of the pictured set of keys, you might notice the edge of my Albertson's card peeking out. Though I don't find myself shopping there, I keep it there as somewhat of a reminder and a nudge. Since I arrived, TheGeorgeF and his girlfriend have been on a quest to collect points towards a free skillet, and these points are only obtainable through continued purchases. The skillet itself is nothing to drool over, but there's something enticing about completing a challenge and earning a simple reward. Since I can't help but want to contribute, I keep that card as a subtle suggestion to drag my feet and my dollars through those doors and bring Albertson's some of my grocery business. Right next to that card, you can't miss my Ralph's Rewards card, and it's definitely gotten its fair share of use. Ralph's is the closest grocery store to our house, and it's where I do most of my shopping. The people are kind, the selection is solid, and the prices are reasonable. If you take that into account and add to it its proximity to our house and its sharing a parking lot with a Jack in the Box, a Shell station, a sushi restaurant and a mail center, I can't think of any reason I wouldn't frequent its aisles.
Moving on to the actual keys, you might notice the one on the left is the simplest and that it is a simple piece of metal. That's the key to our front door, and it's one I rarely use. We all enter the house through the garage, and I find little use for it, but I must keep it for those rare instances (and to return to the landlord on my departure). It's just a placeholder, of sorts, stored there for safe keeping. There's not much else to say about it. Let me skip over the red key for a moment to talk about the blue key. This is the key to my parents' home in San Jose, and it's the reason I found myself going to home depot. When I wrapped my knuckles around the wheel of my first car, a 2004 Ford Explorer Sport Trac XLT (that's quite a long name), I needed my own keys, and my mom set me up with this illuminated model. It was a really sweet gesture as she was both saving me a trip and accounting for how dark it can be around our rural home at night. She even got matching ones in different colors for everyone in the house. It's lasted through seven years of my abusive care (somewhat of an oxymoron), but, being plastic, it finally gave in. The battery gave out a few months ago, and I could have replaced it with a thinner key or at least a metal one when it start showing such signs of failure, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. There is nothing about cost, but there is something about grabbing that key as I fumble through the others every day, even if I rarely use the key itself, that reminds me of home and of my loving parents. As I looked at my keys this morning, I didn't have many options but to replace it, and I couldn't even consider choosing a different color. So, while getting it replaced, I figured I might as well get a matching key for my current room as somewhat of an homage to the whole concept my mom felt was so important. So, I chose a red one, and the reasons behind that choice are two. I wanted to be able to clearly distinguish it from my house key as well as give myself a red and blue set. That second part can be attributed to how much malicious fun I have had in the backseat of friends' cars late at night making them think they were being pulled over. I guess you could call that my prankster side. Now, if you look at these three keys, if you are clever, you might notice they ascend in importance from the front door of my house towards my room, my temporary home, towards my parents' place, my permanent home, and snuggle up next to the Texas-shaped piece to the right. They are bringing me, through my dwellings, towards the state which truly made me feel the most "at home".
Well, that brings me to the last few accessories, and, of course, I'm going to start with that big orange piece of metal. Though the white Longhorn that used to grace its face may be long gone, it's a piece of hardware from the University of Texas Co-Op in Austin. Living in Texas, my whole family has always had a soft spot for anything referencing it, and, not just in fair weather, we have considered ourselves Longhorn fans. Though we love to visit all of our relatives, when we visit my uncle in the great city of Austin, none of us can help making a stop at the Co-Op. Just before I was handed the keys to my shiny new truck just about seven years ago, I was given this little piece as a gift from my mom, just back from a short visit with her mom and brother. Since it looked awesome and doubled as a bottle opener, I threw it on those keys and rocked it with pride. I even got to use it for its beverage-oriented purpose quite a few times in my college years and my early twenties. When I relinquished the keys of that truck which brought me so many fun times, I kept three things. They key ring itself, the blue key to my home, and this Texas-shaped bottle opener. It shows its age, but I don't see myself giving it up anytime soon, even if it chooses to lose the last of its paint. Now, moving on to the rifle-shaped piece of metal, that was given to every member of an airsoft team which brought me so many great games. Though the piece serves absolutely no purpose, it speaks both to my interest in the tactical shooting community as well as my interest in airsoft. Much as in this piece, I think they go hand in hand, and, though this unnecessary bulk may have jammed itself into my leg more times than I can count, I wouldn't dare consider removing this keepsake of all those fun days spent with friends and the solidarity it represented. However, that brings me to the last item on the key ring, which finds itself hidden behind the plastic cards. There is a small ring of metal, and it might suggest I lost something, and that couldn't be more spot-on. This is the last reminder of a keychain that once found itself attached. On a weekend trip to Disneyland, a friend's four-year old daughter went out of her way to ask her parents if she could buy a gift for me. Though I always thought this little girl was one of the most awesome kids I had ever met, I didn't think a kid would ever think so well of me. In the most shy of displays, she handed me a delicately gift-wrapped box, and my anticipation was building. What could she have brought me? Well, I opened it to find an awesome keychain featuring a vinyl replica of Mickey Mouse, but, instead of a face, the entire head was rendered as an eyeball. That may seem odd, but it was actually a really cute piece, but I think I would have been touched by whatever item she brought. This incredibly sweet gesture literally tugged at my heart strings, and I don't feel ashamed to say it. Once it broke, I glued its feet to the monitor at work in order to put it on display and in my view. Sure it was in my sight, but, more importantly, it was where she brought it to me, at work, the only place she ever saw me, and that's what hits me. Considering how little I ever said to her, I was touched by how much she cared about me. Well, I'll stop reminiscing about how happy little kids can make me, and I'll just say that little girl is a winner!
In the end, wrapping themselves around a ring, stuffed into my pocket, my keys are a bundle of memories, and they can say a lot about me, if you just take a closer look. I would suggest that anyone who might like to reflect on bright things take a closer look at the items in their life. Even such simple items as your keys might tell a story. Some might say that's a bad thing, but I'm all about individual identity and pride in yourself. Though I will, most likely, explore the entire contents of my pockets, my pocket-dump, in the near future, today, I just felt like sharing the simple joys brought on by having my keys made new.
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