1. Get Off My Lawn! Yard!

    HERE’S SOMETHING I need some help with and maybe you can help me out:

    What the hell is up with lanyards?

    Is this just a Los Angeles thing? Or is this nonsense going on all over the country?

    Over the past three years or so, countless thousands – maybe millions – of otherwise rational-thinking people have decided that the thing to do is to start carrying their keys on a damn “lanyard.” Like this jackass:

    By the way, this isn’t the first instance of me getting caught taking pictures of men’s midsections, but at least this time it wasn’t in the fitting rooms at JCPenney, I had a semi-plausible excuse, and I was able to successfully run away.

    Anyway, I  see this literally dozens of times each day, everywhere, on men and women – the lanyard hanging out of the pocket – and I want to understand, I really do, but I don’t! I just don’t get it!

    Why don’t I get it?  Well, maybe it’ll help if you see my keychain.

    Four simple items: metal key ring, house key, car key, and spark plug gapper that I have no idea how to use but it was a buck at Pep Boys and it impresses the ladies.

    “What’s that, Ted?”
    “Spark plug gapper.”
    “Oooh…!”

    I’ve wracked my brain trying to understand the popularity of lanyards as well as the pros and cons of owning one and so far I’ve come up with a bunch of cons but only one pro:

    A lot of people who, a few years ago, didn’t know what a “lanyard” is have since broadened their vocabulary by exactly one word.

    I understand and appreciate the concept of a lanyard as an efficient way to carry an ID card if you work backstage at a concert, or at Best Buy, or, I don’t know, I guess maybe at NASA.

    But how did it make the jump from a cord worn around your neck on which you clip your identification or security clearance to an oversized nylon strap dangling outside your pants with your keys attached? How exactly is this more convenient than a regular key ring?

    So, inspired by NASA and the smart people there, I approached it scientifically, and I drew up a chart to help me figure it all out.

    Well, that was a big bust – I still don’t get it and I’ve wasted nine hours on this – time I could have spent learning how to gap my spark plugs.

    Posted by on August 8, 2012, 4:21 AM.

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