Scrounging Gum Bands

Rubber Bands

It is interesting to see someone who, in what would be considered an embarrassing situation for most, is not the slightest bit embarrassed. No surprise, we are talking about Mike. He doesn't embarrass easily, even at times when maybe he should.

For example, as we walk along the medieval cobbled streets in Edinburgh he occasionally stops abruptly, stares down at the pavement, and stoops over to pick up a discarded rubber band (called gum bands here). He is scrounging. The Royal Mail postal carriers occasionally drop these as they go about delivering mail. We have about a dozen of these scrounged gum bands in a kitchen drawer. He says that it doesn't make sense to buy a package of 100 gum bands when we only need a few. What more can be said?