Today, my English 304 class had a quiz, or more correctly I guess, today, I gave my 304 class a quiz. When I teach, I make a point of almost never sitting down. Even when my students do group or partner work that doesn’t require me to stand at the front of the class, I always make an effort to walk around and check how everyone’s doing. I firmly believe that, with the exception of class-wide discussions (when a level of intimacy and comfort is desired), just having the teacher standing and walking around can increase the level of energy in the class, even if the students themselves aren’t up and walking around.
Giving quizzes and tests was my one reprieve when I felt like I could sit at my desk at the front of the room without any feelings of guilt. But with the knowledge of the cheating that occurred on the final in one of my classes last semester, I’ve started wandering around during quizzes as well, just to make my presence known.
Well, I was walking around today, staring somewhat aimlessly around, when all of a sudden I spotted something on one of my student’s backpacks that I instantly recognized. Knock-off logos (even various ones on the same bag or article of clothing) aren’t uncommon, but this wasn’t your everyday Lacoste alligator.
It was an “N” connected to an “R” with the tail of the R kicking a soccer ball. I couldn’t believe it, and I got closer to get a better look. Yes, it was true, here in the middle of Phnom Penh, one of my students had a bag with the New Rochelle Youth Soccer logo on it. I know the logo well. I used to have a few mugs, plastic trophies, and t-shirts with the very same symbol on it.
I started wondering if maybe someone had donated the bag, and it had somehow ended up in my student’s possession. I thought that it would have to be a pretty extreme coincidence, but I had an even harder time imagining that a manufacturer would imitate the NRYS logo to sell bags. How would they even know about it? Maybe they had extra logos left over from wherever the soccer shirts are produced?
As these thoughts were going through my head, I noticed that the fake brand name stitched onto the bag started with an “n” and had an “r” in the middle of the name. It seemed more likely that the symbol wasn’t coincidental and that it had been purposely matched to the name. Also, because of the “name brand” on the bag, I also realized that the bag couldn’t have originated from one of my neighbors at home.
Then, I started to wonder: was there a legitimate brand that actually used the same logo and which I hadn’t known about all this time. But as I thought about it, having an “r” in the middle of the name would be a pretty poor excuse for putting an “r” in the logo. It would be like having a brand called Andrew and making the symbol from an interlocking A and D. Plus, what was with the soccer ball?
So, I’ve come to the conclusion that some random manufacturer in Cambodia or in the region somehow decided that the New Rochelle Youth Soccer logo was a good one and simply decided to copy it for its merchandise. Nonetheless, it was pretty strange to be here in the middle of Cambodia seeing the logo of my kindergarten rec soccer team on one of my student’s bag.