I recently came across this trinket, given to me after purchasing a beverage on the street. Customers had multiple choices of little rubber ducks with a qualifying drink. I went for the Iron Man outfit, though afterwards I wished I had grabbed Spiderman.
I marveled at the little duck, amazed that somebody went to all this trouble to design, develop, and manufacture it. It even came with miniature goggles. Is it a profitable business? I wondered. Or is it just a labour of love? Are rubber ducks even a thing nowadays? So many questions. Pop culture has always fascinated me, but I'm afraid that I'm out of the loop when it comes to current trends. I thought it was a bit silly, so I just put the trinket away and forgot all about it.
I was hanging out in Montreal the other day, when one particular evening in the old part of town, I came across a spectacular sight. A little rubber duck shop!
I felt a shift in dimensions while I stood looking at all the rubber ducks designed in a variety of forms and customs. Incredible! I guess I finally had the answer to one of my questions: yes, little rubber ducks were indeed a thing.
Imagine aliens show up one day and find all those little ducks. Their anthropologists would have a field day deciphering the cultural meaning behind the miniature effigies of the mighty bird. Perhaps their species also passed through an evolutionary stage when synthetic zoomorphic products were all the rage. But that's probably just the coffee talking.
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