What do these three pictures have in common?
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No I am not trying to play Alex Trebeck, nor do you have to phrase your answer in the form of a question, but these three items do have something in common: Some of the junk that you leave behind when you move out of one place and junk that you find in your new place.
In a previous life I was in the radio biz. You move around. A lot. So I have moved into and moved out of an awful lot of apartments, houses, townhouses and the like. Every place has something in common, crap that is left behind either intentionally or accidentally. Why?
We have all probably experienced the “LeftBehind Effect®”. Small bits of flotsam that have washed up in the corners and dark cabinet spaces of our homes. Forgotten or unneeded items that are Left Behind for the new tenant to deal with. Intentionally or not. Sometimes you wonder who used to live there and why these particular items.
Some of the more curious items I have found left behind
- A penny, face-down in the corner of each and every room.(!!???)
- A shoebox filled with half used bottles of hair color ranging from bright
red to midnight black. In the same box a half used tin of black shoe polish.
Hmmmm…. - A full packet of Taiwanese postcards from the 1970’s showing breathtaking
vistas of a bus ramp, the entry point for a new ferry terminal and other
exotic Taiwanese sights. - Miscellaneous bits of dried pasta, usually an elbow macaroni or shell
like found in macaroni and cheese “dinners.” - Various poorly exposed photographs of people and places that are impossible
to make out due to extremely bad photographic technique or long exposure
to the sunlight shining on it in it’s place on the bedroom mirror. - And lets not even bother to detail the bits of trash behind appliances
and that slimy gunk at the bottom of the fridge that requires a pressure
washer and a gallon of 409 to remove… ICK!
I guess the reason that this is puzzling to me is that I am such a bloody anal retentive pack-rat and so paranoid about losing my security deposit that I leave nothing behind. Nothing. If that makes me weird, then so be it.
When I moved into my first townhouse in June of ’99 I was delighted to find a marvelous collection of LeftBehind Junk®. Not only had the previous owners thoughtfully left cans of the paint they had painted the place with, but also a roll of wallpaper for each of the bathrooms and all of the manuals that came with all of the appliances. Thoughtful and appreciated.
There was also a share of that marvelous LeftBehind Junk®
- A somewhat rusted out hibachi in the storage area under the stairs
in the basement. - A collection of cleaning supplies, only partly used, which came in
quite handy.
Actually the cleaning supplies don’t really fit the definition of LeftBehind
Junk® as they were useful, but what the hey…
- A 3 cent stamp, a pearl earring, a couple of screws and paperclips
and a card enrolling me in a T-shirt club from some store in Hawaii. - Some plastic plates, cups, forks, knives and spoons. Lets have a picnic!
- A box of toothpicks. I guess we are having corn on the cob at our picnic.
- A light bulb (working)
- A small half used roll of masking tape (classic LeftBehind Junk®)
- Several 1 1/2 x 2 inch post it note pads.
All in all a pretty good haul, I was happy. There is something satisfying about finding this stuff when you move in. I was so inspired I decided to make some of my own LeftBehind Junk®. So whoever buys the condo I moved out of gets that lovely dead plant pictured at right, above.
Have some of your own LeftBehind Junk®? email me a pic and a description!
Join in on the fun!
Originally posted before I added WordPress to this site. Published date is approximate.