People love to collect things, and we've all heard the proverb, "One man's trash is another man's treasure." I kept trying to rationalize this to myself as I was sorting through my mom's basement. I found credit card receipts dating back to the early '70's, as well as my brother's Bar Mitzvah suit from 1971. I made piles for donating, destroying, and disintegrating, and it barely scratched the surface. This made me think about the items that other people didn't want to part with.
One junk pick-up service was asked to haul away some pretty unusual things including:
-Sex dolls made out of chicken wire
-19 truckloads of expired ice cream
-An actual coffin that the owner said was a Halloween prop
What I find most disturbing is that all of that ice cream had to go to waste.
Auto Rental News reported an even stranger list of items left behind in their cars:
-A goat's heart in the wheel well
-A hamster in the glove box, a petrified dead salamander in the center console, a snapping turtle under the passenger seat, and a live chicken that flew out of the trunk.
-A severed human hand
-5 undocumented immigrants were pulled from the trunk of a Chevy Lumina
Only 5 undocumented immigrants? They should have used a Volkswagen.
The award for smuggling the most articles into the smallest trunk goes to a Florida inmate. He packed in 30 items which included:
-17 blue pills
-A cigarette
-6 matches
-A flint
-A syringe
-Lip balm
-A condom
-A receipt from CVS
-A coupon
Too bad it wasn't a "get out of jail free" coupon. Good thing he saved his CVS receipt. I wonder if he knows my mother?
Great trunk stories. I'm still reeling over the immigrants.
ReplyDeleteI've watched too many hoarder shows and now I'm trying to get rid of stuff. I don't want my daugher to have to face that same nightmare of going through my "stuff".
ReplyDeleteGreat Post :)
ReplyDeleteI've often wondered if you keep you "stuff" organized does that make you a hoarder? :)
ReplyDeleteBetter in the trunk than the back seat. :)
ReplyDeleteLucky me, I used to work in a jail and got to do strip searches on people to check their small trunks for junk. Seriously. That someone was able to get that much stuff stowed...wow.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I wonder what the coupon was for...
I was just think about that very thing this morning. It's time we start getting rid of stuff in this house too.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I've discovered many things in my trunk during my younger years that I'd completely forgotten about. (Groceries, even!) Usually, I'd find these things as I had to unload my trunk completely to get to the spare tire -- which may or may not have been buried in there.
ReplyDeleteWow, that is kind of crazy! The things people store...
ReplyDeleteSarah Allen
(my creative writing blog)
wow crazy stuff---every time i watch hoarders, i feel like i might catch it!--wonderful post!
ReplyDeleteIt is always so fun to find something that I haven't seen for a long time. It is like meeting an old friend. Besides grocery bags, spare tire, lug wrench and jack I keep jumper cables, a boom box and CDs,and dancing shoes in my trunk at all times. Other things come and go.
ReplyDeleteMiranda - It is pretty hard to believe! Thanks Miranda!
ReplyDeleteDelores - It's never too early to start! I feel the same way.
Thanks Youmna!
Jen - I've only seen bits and pieces of hoarder shows, but they appear to be anything but organized. I've started to make an effort to donate clothes and other items more often.
Thanks for following me!
Tonja - Great line that I wish I would've used in the story!
L.G. - Wow, you certainly are a jack of all trades! That must've been really tough work. I'm sure this hoarder has become very popular at the prison for his efforts. It didn't say what the coupon was for, but it may have been expired! Thanks L.G.!
Mary - Even doing just a little bit at a time helps!
Juliann - As long as it wasn't anything that needed to be refrigerated! I'm impressed that you know how to change a tire! Thanks Juliann!
Sarah - I agree! Thanks for stopping by!
Lynn - To be on the safe side take small steps like cleaning out a drawer before or after the show. It's much more fun when I don't have to do it!
Yvonne S. - I like that you're always ready to dance at a moments notice! Thanks Yvonne! Julie
How funny...an inmate had ALL those items? Geez, someone isn't watching them very well, are they?
ReplyDeleteGee, hopefully your brother wasn't still IN his suit.
ReplyDeleteAnd what's so odd about that sex doll? Even chickens need lovin'.
You know the other connotation of "junk in the trunk"?
ReplyDeleteIt applies to a lady who has a huge and jutting exterior extremity (au naturel)... but not to a lady who goes for buttock implants... wonder why?
I wonder which of those items you listed prompted the fastest call to the police?
ReplyDeleteAfter cleaning out my father's house after he died, and sorting through mountains of everything imaginable dating back to the early '50s, my hubby and I vowed to weed out some of our stuff, rather than leave our kids with that same sort of headache. So we've been doing just that for the past couple years. Still, when we're gone, our kids may just opt to burn the place down rather than deal with it. Oh, and that coupon that prisoner had? Betcha it was for Calgon. Ya know, to "take him away."
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed this, I will be back.
ReplyDeleteTracy - I don't think I would've wanted to watch the discovery process!
ReplyDeleteAl - 1) He didn't know that my mom had kept his suit all these years, otherwise he probably would've been wearing it! 2) That's what Colonel Sanders said!
Michelle - I'm glad you did your homework before you came over. If you choose to do more research on the subject, you could post it under "M" for mysteries, or "T" for tushies!
Alex - Well the one man was already in prison, and the owner of the severed hand was likely dead. So I'd go with the "undocumented immigrants" as the first call. Though I do feel badly about the goat.
Susan - Sorry about your dad. It must have been a horrendous experience going through everything. The good thing is my mom's still around to hear me complain about it. We also don't want to put our kids through it, and hope to scale down before we drop dead. Great line about Calgon! I'm sure all of the prisoners are lining up to bathe with him now! Thanks Susan!
Gail - Thanks for following me, and I'll also be back to visit you! Julie
I used to work housekeeping for a weekly stay inn. You'd be surprised at some of the things left behind. I came into possession of more than one guitar, an iPod, and tons of other stuff. But the crowning left behind was a broad sword. Just weird things I could never understand why they would leave them behind.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting my blog. I like what I read and will be following you back.
Hilarious post about the turkey sandwich! Love it!
ReplyDeleteI have a little of that habit, it mostly paper work am unable to let go of. The inmate's trunk had me laughing.
ReplyDeleteT.S.- You saw quite a collection, but the sword was the strangest one of all! Thanks for following me, and I also enjoy your blog!
ReplyDeleteKelly - It's a shame that the poor man lost his snack! Thanks Kelly!
Rekha - I also tend to hold onto too many things. There are so many services that are willing to pick up donations which makes it easier to give items away. Thanks Rekha!
Wow, what an interesting post. It made me think of that TV show, Hoarders. I do have a lot of stuff that needs to be shredded, so one of the next things we need to get is a shredder. Then I'll be able to cross one more thing off my cleaning/organizational list.
ReplyDelete: )
Susanne
PUTTING WORDS DOWN ON PAPER