Saturday, May 3, 2008
Sorting Through Stuff
I started sorting through stuff today and in so doing became my own archaeologist. Possessions once precious now seem inexplicable. What was the purpose of those faux gold coins? Where did I get them and why did I keep them? How many paper weights does a person really need in one life? Magazines unread for twelve months beg for recycling and opportunities to become pages of yet another series of 'The Great Books'. And what about that Caribbean style straw hat given to me as a party favor at least ten years ago? Does any thrift store in the country really want it? How could I have imagined when I recorded all of those movies I'd be stuck with video cassette tapes now unplayable because my magical VCR was replaced by an even more magical DVD? My ecologically oriented self is now stuck between wanting to just put all this crap in the dumpster and knowing that the half life of a video cassette tape is probably several million years. Here's a lesson I'm beginning to consider learning. Before buying anything, perhaps I should figure out how I will get rid of it when it breaks or bores. Or at least I might consider whether or not it's something I want the planet to lug around decades after I've tossed it in the trash.
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My professor Michael Signer, when he was in rabbinical school, took on the night custodial job at HUC because he needed the money. It took him all night to do the job because when he emptied the wastebaskets, he read everything that was in them. Later on, he said he came to the realization that all an historian is is someone who reads the contents of everyone else's wastebaskets.
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