The majority of products in this era do not pass the test of time. The L.L. Bean Company, however, does not produce such products. For the past five years, ever since I was a 7th grader, I have been using an L.L.Bean backpack every day of my life. In 2001, my parents bought a backpack for me to use in my first year of middle school. I remember it coming in a brown cardboard box, and the excitement with which I opened it. When I discovered the present my parents had given me, I was thrilled. The backpack was a dark blue with reflective zippers, and my name stitched into the material, just to prove that it was specifically for me. Added on to the physical appeal of the backpack is the fact it has padded shoulder straps. The instant one slides it onto his or her shoulders, the specially designed pads give instant relief to worn down shoulders. To help prevent back pain, the backpack even comes which a click-in belt around the waist and the chest! Yet these are all trivial and topical qualities; when it comes down to it, the backpack does not need any of these fancy things, whether it has personalized initials or a waist belt clip. No, this backpack is top notch quality in key ways, not just added-on ideas. For instance, the backpack is split into four different sections: large, medium, small and an even smaller pouch. The large and medium section allow for decent sized books to be stored in it, whether it be one’s four hundred page Biology textbook or one’s copy of War and Peace for English class. The small section works as a good place to store softer materials, such as folders or extra sheets of paper. The most ingenious part of the backpack, though, is the small pouch at the very end. Once unzipped, the small pouch serves as a student’s best friend. The small pouch includes a clip to attach one’s keys, a small zipped-up section to store one’s student ID card, and two slits specifically designed for pens or pencils. Besides having a great product, the L.L. Bean Company also provides excellent customer service. After two years of wear and tear, several of the zippers broke. All I had to do to fix this was call customer service and in several days a box would arrive for me to ship my backpack to the repair store. Less than five days after I shipped the backpack to be serviced, it was returned with brand new zippers and even brighter reflectors on the shoulder straps. All in all, I do not think I could have survived middle school, high school, or my first year of college without my trusty L.L. Bean backpack.
