11.25.09 – Mystery Pouch

On Monday I attended a local fundraising event and was given a gift bag. Upon looking through it at home it had the typical women's gift bag items -- perfume sample, cosmetics bag, gift certificates, and a tote bag with the unfortunate signature of a celebrity “designer,” but it also had something else. It had two plastic pillow-like pouches, with a department store's name and logo across it, filled with yellow liquid and what looked like a flattened button. These objects seemed quite odd to me, as I couldn't figure out what they were. There were no instructions on the pouch or in the gift bag. I thought about taking them in to the store and asking if someone could tell me their use, but didn't want to see completely stupid. It seemed possible that you might place them in the freezer and then put them on your eyes, but mostly, due to the urine color, they made me think of Andres Serrano photographs.

I decided to take one with me to lunch with a friend, thinking perhaps he could figure it out, but he was just as perplexed. When our waitress at Sitwell's stopped by, he decided to ask her and she knew exactly what it was. It turns out the flattened button when bent activates the pouch and it hardens, but instead of becoming cold, it heats up. She had used such devices, she said, while in high school band.

We continued to touch the hot pouch in amazement during lunch. It did go down to room temperature a few hours later, but was still rock hard. It's supposed to go back to its liquid state, the waitress said, after a period and then you can start the whole process again, but my friend, who I let have the one pouch, said it is still solid as a rock a day later.

This time of year it does make sense for such a device, as it's a good hand warmer, but I also realized it would be a great mugger deterrent. I have always liked things that have multiple uses. I just wish they had chosen a different color. I love the color yellow, but not as a liquid in a pouch.

I may have to go back to Sitwell’s and find that helpful waitress to figure out how to get it back to its original state.