Rubber bands: Stretching virtuously

(Photo by Bill Ebbesen)

From time to time, rubber bands have been in the news.

Back in 1976, the Spinners had a hit single called The Rubberband Man.  It topped the charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom.  Perhaps it was so popular because of its upbeat message ("So much rhythm, grace and debonair from one man, Lord") - one that was created by Thom Bell and Linda Creed in order to improve the self-image of Bell's son.

In 2003 along came another Rubber Band Man, this one the creation of hip hop artist Clifford Joseph Harris, Jr. (aka "T.I.").  T.I. was known as "Rubber Band Man" because of his drug-dealing past (in which rubber bands were used to secure wads of street money). Nowadays, T.I. is instead associated with immense talent and philanthropic ways.  According to Wikipedia, in 2010 he helped to talk a man out of jumping to his death.  T.I. afterwards explained:  The fact of the matter is that God put me in a position to help, and I can't take any credit for that.

Just recently, rubber bands were once again in the headlines.  BBC News reported that when Pope Francis was still Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, papers were delivered to his residence every weekday by a local Buenos Aires kiosk.  Bergoglio would conscientiously save all the rubber bands that these papers were wrapped in, and would then return them at the end of each month.  After becoming Pope, he even personally phoned in his delivery cancellation.

Resources

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-21907683

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rubberband_Man

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T.I.

Copyright April 11, 2013 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved