Arthur writes: "PS. We got so many emails of people wanting my 'Old Friend' pictured above. Well, I have another, older, Old Friend of a bag. I'll share that with you in an upcoming email."
This got me wondering. Why the interest in a weathered, beaten, bag which has stood the test of time, and been a faithful servant to its master?
I think the answer may be in what the bag is not. I'll explain based on a true story, but which I will tell abstractly, without mentioning names.
A scholar, known by many and sought after for his wisdom and guidance, was on an airplane with members of his family. Throughout the trip his grandchildren were running over to him, and treated him with awe and reverence, as well as affection.
The great man's seatmate was piqued. He said, "My grandchildren at family get-togethers barely greet me or want to have anything to do with me. What is your secret?"
The scholar was a man of sharp wit as well as sage advice. "I suspect the difference is this. I teach that the source of my knowledge is a moment in history, thousands of years ago, when this knowledge was revealed here on Earth, and that this knowledge has been passed down, generation to generation, till I acquired it. My grandchildren therefore act with reverence to me because I am two generations closer to that knowledge than they are."
He continued, "On the other hand, I suspect that your grandchildren are taught that mankind is descended from primates. They consider you two generations closer to being a monkey."
We live in a technologically advanced age. Every day new discoveries are made, and new machines are built based on those discoveries. If we then make the mistake of thinking we are somehow smarter or cleverer than those who went before us, then surely we make ourselves irrelevant in the process. If we hold on to the idea that we are merely one link in a chain going far into the past and stretching into the future, that we are minuscule beings standing on the shoulders of giants, than maybe we have a shot of gaining something from our brief sojourn in this world.
Arthur's products are a cool reminder that nothing is really new under the sun. Research online and you can find pictures of book covers that have survived more than a millenia that seem to be brothers to something right off Arthur's website.
Arthur's bag is important precisely because it's not an artifact from a space mission, not the signed autograph of a star of sports, music, or the theater, not something that was cool in its day and now been superceded. His bag is something that reminds us of the timeless nature of the important things in life.
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