Where does junk go after the junk drawer?

If a junk drawer is where junk ends up, where does it go after that?

Is it like where a body goes after the rent is up on the burial plot at a cemetery? Or where does trash go after the dump? At the dump, it should disintegrate into nothing, into earth. Well, except for styrofoam.

My wife and kids are out of town, I have the second best podcast* on my phone with earbuds glued inside of my ears, plenty of battery, and a room full of … I don’t really know what’s in there. It’s junk. It’s like a junk drawer exploded and it’s now a whole room. It’s not easy-to-organize like, say, socks. Socks go in a sock drawer.

What about a little pill box that we don’t use, but got on travels, with the Greek flag on it. Sorta souvenir-ish, nice reminder of Greece where we’ll be back who knows when. What do you do with that? I have a few (really large) boxes that are labeled “Souvenirs” but what am I going to do with them?

Is it junk or “Souvenirs”?

Junk drawers have stuff like rubber bands, batteries, and pens. All useful! A Greek pillbox? Is that just garbage? If I throw it out, will I ever remember? Will I ever miss it?

I find that I have quite a few things to put other things in. A pen or pencil box from Carcassonne with a beautiful drawing of the castle. I suppose I should put pens in it. Maybe give it to the kids and they can put pens in it. If each item on the floor takes this much deliberation, this is going to take weeks. Oh wait, it’s already been weeks, I need to decide now!

Which is what leads me to what usually happens: put all of the little junk into a big box called Souvenirs and open it … never. Is this what you go through when you retire? I think the plastic box will have disintegrated by then. This is the second time I’ve used disintegrated in one post. I think there’s something there about the passage of time.

Back to the podcast and … the junk.