BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 9, 2025
I want to talk about the perils of hauling around what amounts to a personal metal water tower in your bag and the psychic trauma it inflicts upon those around you when you drop it. It’s finals week. It was harrowing. It was the chorus of thunderous metallic gongs hitting the floor throughout the entire exam. CLONGGG! I’m talking about the ubiquitous 32-ounce metal hydration flask, the unofficial mascot of American overkill. Once a humble container to hold a modest amount of water, it has become something larger and louder. At what point did we, as a society, decide that carrying around enough water to sustain a family farm was necessary to survive an hour-long meeting? Let’s bring back the humble 12-ounce water bottle. Let’s resurrect the modest water fountain. Let’s accept that we can make it through our day without tactical hydration gear. ~ Rob Glover, associate professor of political science, University of Maine