Can you finish this lollipop for me?

1
Buying Memories

This summer I've seen more garage sales than a body ought in a single summer, but something more interesting than the sales themselves struck me - the obligatory roomfuls of holiday knickknacks: centerpieces, candles, baskets, lights, window clings, wall hangings - otherwise ordinary items that sported a turkey or Santa or Easter bunny or leprechaun and encouraged a smile once a year.

Much of it was kitschy junk, purchased on impulses fueled by approaching holidays and memories that look back fondly. But some of it was more than that. Some of it had been loved and cherished and carefully unpacked and repacked each year.

There is something sad in seeing all these things laid out on a table in a musty basement, or in an empty garage surrounded by lawn tools, rags, and garbage cans, no longer enjoyed by the owner, unwanted by the owner's family, worth now a dollar, or a quarter, so long as it's gone at the end of the day.

I've always preferred to read a used book if I have a choice - a really well-used paperback, read by so many people that the page edges are discolored from the countless times a page was turned and held back with a thumb. I mostly listen to books now, but when I did read, I liked reading books like this because they'd been enjoyed before, and I was joining an anonymous happy band of pilgrims, toward what end I never knew, until I reached the last page.

[2012-08-18]

2
When you campaign on elevated principles...

... you're held to elevated standards.

From the What Were They Thinking? file:

GOP lawmakers reprimanded for drinking, skinny dipping in Israel >

[2012-08-20]

 

3
Can you finish this lollipop for me?

I keep a jar of candy near my desk and everyone in the row occasionally contributes to it or puts open candy nearby. Not too long ago, a half-eaten (and resealed) roll of Life Savers showed up. I thought it was a joke and let it sit there for a while, then tossed it.

A few days ago, an opened, licked, and resealed Charms Blowpop showed up.

How do I know this?

As I began to unwrap it today, the wrapper seemed to be glued on, so I tugged a little more until I realized that it was gooey and sticky on the inside (not on the outside). And it was not part oft he Willy Wonka assortment I had added, or the chocolate miniatures or Starbursts from others.

Someone thought it would be funny if someone else finished the sucker they started.

If I find out who it is, I'll reveal it here, but that’s unlikely; there are non-corporate people in and out of the office all day and well into the evening; I don’t believe any company people would do this or think it’s funny.

[2012-09-04]