Bangles, jangles… and keyboards?

Creamy coloured bangles

I love my job. BUT – I also love bangles. And therein lies a problem – I can’t type while wearing bangles, they interfere with the position of my wrist and hand.

So I get ready in the morning, carefully select the bangles (always plural!) I’m going to wear, sit down to work… And after just a few minutes off come the bangles and they’re deposited on my desk. Which is fine when I’m working at home or in the office. They even come in handy as temporary paperweights.

But when I’m out and about working on my laptop, the bangles get stuffed into my capacious handbag. And then I forget about them. By the end of the week, I’m wondering why my bag seems even heavier than usual. And why I can’t find that coral-coloured bangle that would set off my outfit so nicely. Only then do I check the handbag and find a multi-coloured hoard of metal, wood, plastic and resin lurking at the bottom.

In the house, too, I leave a bangle trail. Off they come, for example, when I need to don rubber gloves to do a handwash. And there they stay, on the worktop by the sink, until someone retrieves them for me.

I could never commit the perfect murder, as I’d need to remove a bangle the better to administer the poison, pull the trigger, or plunge the dagger. And of course I’d leave it behind at the crime scene. Or else make such a jingling and jangling as I fled the scene that I’d be a breeze for the police to catch.

Photo courtesy of Olivia Dougan Naio.

By Marian Dougan

Published by Marian Dougan

Marian is a translator and editor (specialising in web content) currently based in Glasgow, Scotland. Marian previously lived in Italy for over 20 years, working as a language teacher, translator and policy analyst with the British Embassy in Rome. A qualified member of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) and its Italian-language and ITI Scotnet networks, she is currently Scotnet's Convenor and Deputy Webmaster. From 2003 to 2006 Marian taught translation skills at the Italian Department of Glasgow University and now gives Master Classes as part of the new Masters in Translation Studies course. She also conducts web-writing and usability workshops to help people improve their websites and communicate more effectively with their readers, users and customers. In September 2014 Marian obtained User Experience Certification, with specialisation in Web Design, from the Nielsen Norman Group. She loves language, especially English, and is convinced that learning languages opens up people’s minds and horizons (and increases their brainpower!). To share her enthusiasm, she advises schools and educational authorities on language skills and enterprise. She gives talks to pupils on how to combine language studies with other subjects and so enhance their potential and increase their career options. Marian is an active member of organisations such as: Scottish Council Development and Industry (SCDI); Association of Scottish Businesswomen; Dunbartonshire Chamber of Commerce and the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Scotland. She also loves architecture, design, fashion (British Vogue!), cities and chocolate. She’s a great fan of Twitter and you can also find her on Linkedin.

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4 Comments

  1. Fab colours! You can leave them lying around your blog – they coordinate beautifully.

    1. Thanks, Zoë! I was looking at old photos recently and realised I’ve had some of these bangles for 20 years… and still wearing them (or carting them around, more often than not).

  2. Hi Marian,

    Loved this entry – so funny! But I’m there with you, sister, I have the same problem. In my case though, it’s not bangles but rather bracelets, chunky ones – it couldn’t be otherwise since my business is all about chunky jewellery! I like wearing a few at a time (not the noisy ones, thankfully) but it’s not always practical because i) I spend most of my working day in front of a laptop and, like yourself, I just can’t type comfortably and ii) my daughter takes any bracelets, bangles and even necklaces off me to put them on herself – like mother, like daughter, even at 22 months old!

    So yes, jewellery can be a bit of a problem sometimes but… I still intend to wear my chunky bracelets as much as I can and I hope you are able to do the same with your bangles – jangle, jangle!

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