I remember being in elementary school, and all the teachers warning the students not to share hair ties. They were afraid of the spread of childhood lice, but also the woes that children will create when someone borrows something and then doesn’t return it. It’s interesting that now as an adult, I seemed to have survived my college experience with only four hair ties. That’s right- four. And somehow, they seemed to have multiplied themselves. You see, it goes something like this:

I have four hair ties. Meera borrows a hair tie, I borrow one from Caroline. Caroline borrows one from Meera. Emma gives me a hair tie because she swears that she borrowed one from me, and didn’t return it, so here you go. Meera returns my hair tie, and Kate returns one to Meera, who gives it to Emma, who gives it to Caroline, who gives it back to Meera, who gives it to me. Kate sees me messing with my hair and lends me a hair tie to pull it back during class, and I forget to give it back, so now I have 7 hair ties.

I really am digging these weird college dynamics where once you misplace something it doesn’t just disappear into the stratosphere, but rather, into the hands of another person who uses it with the intent to pass it along to another person when they come into need. Wouldn’t it be interesting if we applied these same principles to other aspects of our lives?