By GINA KINSLOW
Glasgow Daily Times
GLASGOW —
My grandmother was rather handy.
She could fix just about anything.
She stored her “tools,” which consisted
of a small screwdriver, an assortment
of nuts, bolts, screws, nails of varying sizes
and a roll of black, electric tape, in a red
Christmas tin that she called her toolbox.
Of all the “tools” she had in the tin, the
electric tape got the most use. It was the precursor
to Duct tape in our family and was
used for many things from covering a rip in
naugahyde to sealing shut a cardboard box.
I walked through a local discount department
store the other day and couldn’t help to
notice that in the hardware section there was
a rack featuring several rolls of Duct tape.
What caught my eye was that the Duct
tape was not the typical dark gray color. Instead,
it came in animal prints, both tiger and
leopard, hot pink, bright yellow and other
patterns and colors.
Acouple of days later, I was shopping at
another store and found that it, too, had a
rack of Duct tape.After finding the rack of
Duct tape at the other store, I just had to see
what this store offered.
I also found this store carried Duct tape
that was available in bright colors and patterns.
It even had couple
of roles featuring a cartoon
drawings of a person.
Naturally, I had to
pick it up to see who
might be featured on the
roll. It was pop music star
Justin Bieber!Yes, I said
it. It was the Bieber!
I couldn’t help but to
wonder if Bieber’s image
would help sell Duct tape.
I wouldn’t think very
many of his fans would
have a need for Duct
tape, but I could be wrong. They may buy it
just because his image was on it and they had
the Bieber Fever.Who knows?
Celebrities who may have helped push the
sale of black, electric tape are those who appear
on the cable television show, “Gator
Boys,” which is about a group of men who
capture alligators that have wandered into
people’s backyards.
If you’ve ever watched the show, you’ll
see they always wrap the offending alligators’
snouts with black, electric tape to keep
them from taking off an arm, leg, head or
some other body part.
The way I see it, if black, electric tape is
strong enough to keep an alligator’s snout securely
closed, then it must be a pretty good
product.
I doubt very seriously that it ever entered
my grandmother’s mind that she could also
use her black, electric tape to keep an alligator’s
snout closed.
But as I sit here and write this column, a
mental image of my grandmother in a polyester
dress and house slippers, with her hair
in curlers, sitting astride a large alligator’s
back and using black, electric tape to secure
its snout has entered my mind.
I’m certain if she were here, she probably
wouldn’t think that was very funny, but I do
and I’m happy to share that image with you.
So, the next time you go shopping for
Duct tape, consider black, electric tape.After
all, it is strong enough to tape an alligator’s
snout shut.
Gina Kinslow is a staff writer for the Glasgow
Daily Times. She can be contacted by email
at gkinslow@glasgowdailytimes.com.
