We Are The World: The Cheap Sr. Citizen Strolls Down Memory Lane

Apr 30, 2011

The Cheap Sr. Citizen Strolls Down Memory Lane

Guest Writer: Ruth Morse

The 5th in a fascinating series on trash

In truth, I thought it was time to take a break from anything having to do with garbage, trash, refuse, junk, you name it. I was mentally composing a catchy opening with lots of double meanings as a lead-in to a weirdly wonderful household hint. It could go something like this:

How can I refuse to write more about garbage? I don't mean to scrap the offal theme. No, not a permanent trashing of the subject, just a sweeping interlude from the swill that runs through my junky brain.

Well, enough of that!

For some strange reason, the phrase DON'T THROW THE BABY OUT WITH THE BATH WATER popped into my head. Huh? Where in the world did that come from? Do I really want to know what that means?

In the strictest sense,......
according to idioms.thefreedictionary.com, it means: If you get rid of useful things when discarding inessential things, you throw the baby out with the bath water.

Three years ago, we sold our house in West Windsor after living there for 37 years. The word DOWNSIZE took on a whole new meaning when we were preparing to move. We needed to get rid of a lot of inessential things while packing up useful things for the move.......

Is he the king of garbage or what?

Little by little, week by week, he nibbled away at that ratty structure until it was totally TRASHED.

Guess my plan to write about something other than garbage has gone awry. I'll just leave you with one last thought, an analysis of of how to determine what to call the stuff you are throwing away:

Debris is the remains of something that has been destroyed or broken up.

Garbage is food that is discarded or useless.

Trash is worthless material that is to be disposed.

Jim cleaned out a shed in our back yard. Talk about trash! Our garbage collection was on Monday morning, but we discovered that if we put things from the shed at the end of the driveway by Saturday morning, there was never anything left for the garbage men come Monday. Guess the definition of USEFUL THINGS varies from household to household.

After the sad looking shed was empty, Jim began dismantling it, bit by bit. He would cram what he could into an extra trash pail or two and leave it for the Monday Men. Who knew you could put a shed out for the trash? Jim did it.