pooka shells and dreadlocks

Anyone who knows me, even just a little, knows that I have to know everything about you. I ask lots of questions (none too personal) and love to hear the stories behind the questions I ask. I am curious. I only know what has happened to me in the few places that I have lived. I need to know what else has gone on in the world and who has experienced these things!! Call me nosy if you must but I call it being interested, being fascinated, being intrigued, all by the personal histories of my friends, family and everyone else that comes into my life...even if only for a brief moment. With that being said...I went to the Verizon store today to have my phone software updated (Verizon-a whole other blog entry in itself). Well, anyone who has Verizon knows that when you first walk into their store a greeter is there to meet you and figure out where they are going to best suit your needs and then you sit there for a while waiting for your turn. So while waiting, ever so patiently, I was watching the greeter who happened to have dreadlocks. He was a really nice black guy...young and very friendly. Every time he turned around I would get a glimpse of something white at the ends of his dreads...but not all of the dreads...just some of them. They looked like white balls about the size of a marble...maybe a tad bigger. And they were oval, not round. There was no pattern to this variety of white dots in his hair. As I sat there trying to figure out what they were I figured if anyone was watching me they probably thought I was checkin his backside out so I thought I should just kill my curiousity and ask him what they were...so I did. Am I glad that I did...I learned something today that I probably never would have learned otherwise. He informed me that they were Pooka shells. He said that back in ancient times, African men would get pooka shells stuck in their dreads when out fishing. He said that as they would bend over to stab a fish and look for fish at the bottom of the ocean their hair would brush against the sea floor and dirt and shells would get stuck in their dreads. If and when these men were sold as slaves people would pay more for the men with more shells in their hair as this was a sign of a hard worker and a strong man. Obviously, nowadays, it is just a trend but this is what started that trend. He also informed me that some people have dreads for religious purposes (which I did find on the internet as well). While researching this, I did find that pooka shells, at least the ones I saw in his hair, are more commonly known as Cowry Shells. So, as they say, you learn something new everyday!! You see, if you never ask, you never learn...