An Ode to a Yelp Bag
The bag you see pictured above was swag.
It’s not a Swag Bag, once filled with baubles and creams and pretty things. Nope. Just a bag that was handed out no differently than a sticker, business card, or branded pen might be. It’s a bag I received attending a Yelp Elite event (for general info on the Yelp Elite experience read here, or get my experience here or here).
Beautifully red and emblazoned with stars, the Yelp burst, everything you want to catch the eye, this bag packs down to the size of the palm of my hand. It has been great for trips to the grocery store, it’s nice and big, and even though I have one that feels more fabric and looks “nicer,” with a wavy textured surface, this plasticky bag has become my favorite.
But I fear its days are numbered.
I recently brought it on a warm weather vacation, a young person’s trip down to Aruba.
When I say “young person’s” I mean to say “carry-on only.” I had a small duffel and a large backpack, not the type of bags that make walking around easily (yes walking, because again young and cheap).
So what was I to do? Obviously, I brought a small drawstring bag with zipper, which could be rolled up and packed in my backpack. BUT, I also brought my packable Yelp tote with me. Just LOOK at how much space I’d have!
It did serve as a grocery bag, but also a beach bag, a day bag, a catch-all, or all that it could catch.
What did it catch?
Goat milk, yogurt drinks, deli meat and cheese, bread, greens, Turkish towels, snorkels, sunscreen, shirts and tanks, lunches, and lots of water (some bottled, some from the tap, and some that spilled over the side of the kayak, salty fresh from the sea).
But friends, you know where this story is going. I’ve crammed multiple frozen pizzas in this sucker. Multiple jars of pasta sauce. I’ve simply asked too much of the bag and it is tearing.
It’s odd that it’s right near where it folds into the pocket, where I’d expect it to be more reinforced. But alas, it is busting at a seam.
My heart, like the bag, is bursting open. Yelp, if you are reading this- Mirella, my Community Manager- this bag is a lifesaver, and yet it is dying. I guess I’ll go to more events and hope to snag another non-swag bag. But if I can’t, if I have to repair and hope and treat it with care, then I will do so. I will honor this bag to the last.
But before the end comes, I’ll just say, thanks for the memories.
