Chokers
Every summer, I make enough beaded bracelets that they reach my elbows. In the summer of 2011, I decided to be a little different and make a beaded choker in addition to my arm candy. Comments ranged from “Who do you think you are?” to “Ew” to “Get that thing off of your neck” when my friends looked at what I considered to be my beautiful, handcrafted necklace.
I was devastated to say goodbye to my first choker four summers ago. There I was sitting in the corner of my bunk, minding my own business, when my so-called best friend came up behind me and snipped off my choker with a pair of scissors. Beads fell to the floor and flew everywhere as if they were trying to run away from me as fast as possible. My friends thought it was a riot when my trademark no longer hung around my neck, but while I got their humor, I was clearly not “a happy camper.” I tried to recreate the piece more than once that summer, but they just weren’t the same.
Three more summers, three more chokers, and I found that with more colors and more creativity, each was better than the next. I didn’t stop being the butt of choker jokes, and rather than taking the teasing to heart, I started to chime in. One day, I spontaneously turned Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” into “Choker Face” and my friends cracked up as I danced around the bunk in a sparkly silver tutu. It’s not that I define myself with a string of plastic beads, but the choker is definitely my trademark. Throughout these past four summers, my chokers became more than just plastic beads around my neck; they began to represent who I am- a confident teenager who enjoys being just a little different from the crowd.
Unlike my camp friends, my campers loved my choker. On the first day of arts and crafts this past summer, one of my campers said, “We should make chokers like Sirotkin!” Beaming with happiness and jumping with enthusiasm, I encouraged them to create my favorite form of neckwear. By the end of that activity period, at least half of my campers wore a beaded choker around their neck. As the summer progressed, more and more female staff and campers wore chokers. Although the trend took four summers to catch on, I am happy that I am still recognized as the “trend setter.”
I was devastated to say goodbye to my first choker four summers ago. There I was sitting in the corner of my bunk, minding my own business, when my so-called best friend came up behind me and snipped off my choker with a pair of scissors. Beads fell to the floor and flew everywhere as if they were trying to run away from me as fast as possible. My friends thought it was a riot when my trademark no longer hung around my neck, but while I got their humor, I was clearly not “a happy camper.” I tried to recreate the piece more than once that summer, but they just weren’t the same.
Three more summers, three more chokers, and I found that with more colors and more creativity, each was better than the next. I didn’t stop being the butt of choker jokes, and rather than taking the teasing to heart, I started to chime in. One day, I spontaneously turned Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” into “Choker Face” and my friends cracked up as I danced around the bunk in a sparkly silver tutu. It’s not that I define myself with a string of plastic beads, but the choker is definitely my trademark. Throughout these past four summers, my chokers became more than just plastic beads around my neck; they began to represent who I am- a confident teenager who enjoys being just a little different from the crowd.
Unlike my camp friends, my campers loved my choker. On the first day of arts and crafts this past summer, one of my campers said, “We should make chokers like Sirotkin!” Beaming with happiness and jumping with enthusiasm, I encouraged them to create my favorite form of neckwear. By the end of that activity period, at least half of my campers wore a beaded choker around their neck. As the summer progressed, more and more female staff and campers wore chokers. Although the trend took four summers to catch on, I am happy that I am still recognized as the “trend setter.”