Junior Matt Cox carefully lined up the colorful bracelets. Finally everything was in place.

“Hey Madison, I got you something.” Cox said.“Silly Bandz!”

Cox was yelling excitedly at his girlfriend, Junior Madison Sewell, as she walked into his house. She walked toward the coffee table, thinking at first that the Silly Bandz consisted of the whole alphabet.

“I started looking at them,” Sewell said, “and then I eventually caught on as to what I  had to do.”

She spelled out the word HOMECOMING in brightly colored rubber letters. Cox then brought out two more packages of Silly Bandz, each one contained either a yes or no response.

“Of course, I chose the yes,” Sewell said. “I was surprised and thought that it was really sweet, and creative, and cute.”

However, when freshman Adam Graves had a similar idea, the response he received was less than encouraging.

“We were in world geography,” Graves said, “and I called her over to check out my new Silly Bandz. It took her a minute to realize what I meant, but she got it.”

Despite his cute way of asking her to homecoming, the girl said no.

“It was creative, and I had to buy five packs of Silly Bandz,” Graves said. “I wish she would have said ‘yes.’”

The remaining bands sit on his dresser.

“I will probably give them to my sister,” Graves said. “My sister loves Silly Bandz; she has over 200 of them.”

Silly Bandz are a fad for people of all ages, and both guys and girls. Nearly everyone around has a group of colorful bands around their wrists.

The concept of the Silly Bandz was discovered by a Japanese engineer. The initial concept? To make rubber bands so much fun that people wouldn’t throw them away, thus reducing the amount that ends up in landfills.

However, the wildly shaped Bandz inspired much more than that. People of all ages enjoy wearing and trading the Silly Bandz. It’s because of the many designs and styles that the Bandz appeal to many different people.

From shapes and letters, to sea creatures and even movie characters, there is a huge variety of Silly Bandz available.

“I wear my HOMECOMING Silly Bandz all the time,” Sewell said. “I never take them off. I like telling my story to people who ask what the Bandz say.”