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I heard you can tell who a person is by looking in their medicine cabinet and through their trash. I think this is true. Why are there “professional” dumpster divers searching through the garbage of famous people. Does Halle Berry really use Cover Girl blush and mascara? What about Madonna? Does she only eat raw, macrobiotic food or would you find a charred piece of steak in her trash? Does she feed Lourdes, Rocco and David Chicken McNuggets from McDonald’s? And forget about the link between a person and their medicine cabinet. What would a cabinet full of Vicodin and Ambien say about a person?
Aside from these two places being able to describe the character of a person, there is another, the inside of a car.
The other day I was in my Mitsibushi Outlander for the bazillionth time. At a stop sign, I glanced around my car and realized there was a lot of crap, quite literally, strewn all over the inside of my car. You would think this would compel me to go home and clean it. Instead I finished my work day, went home, and took the following photos.
Mojo wrapper, etc in driver's door
The inside of the driver’s door: Mojo wrappers from eating on the run, straw wrappers from my ninety-nine cent 42 ounce Diet Cokes (at least two a day), Trident White spearmint papers.
Driver’s seat: Nonfat Greek vanilla yogurt schmear from eating in the car.
Diet Pepsi cans
Middle console: Two empty Diet Pepsi cans. Got addiction?
Passenger seat: Laptop computer (I’ve been known to open the computer and look for an email while “driving.”) and book bag. Work is never far away from my fingertips.
Broken umbrella, ella, ella...Everyone needs one of these, right?
Passenger floor: Broken umbrella, empty Ziploc baggie (Need to recycle it, but won’t happen if I leave it in my car.) and “old” phone charger from my previous cell phone…HELLLOOOOOO!!!!
Jack's jet drawing
Backseat floor: Hiking shoes from when Jack and I hiked Cowles’ Mountain about six weeks ago. Socks are there, too. Empty water bottles…see I drink water, too, and recycle them when I clean out my car. Jack’s drawing of a fighter jet. More work papers.
Hiking shoe...oh, there it is.
Back of the car: Data and protocols from my consulting job at SDSU, reusable grocery bags, McDonald’s toy from Happy Meals, Jack’s drawings, bungee cord for securing my surfboard on my roof (when I surfed), shoebox from boots I had repaired and never put them back in the box.
Trunk trash...the name of my new band
What does the inside of my car say about me? I’m a harried woman with kids, a Diet Pepsi (can)/Diet Coke (fountain) addiction, who eats and works while driving. I’m environmentally conscious with my use of recyclable grocery bags and my contemplation to recycle plastic bottles. I’m messy. I have other priorities besides cleaning, obviously but who doesn’t? And I have difficulty saying no to things and organizing my time and my surroundings.
I’m not the first one to contemplate character and cleanliness.
“Cleanliness is next to godliness.”
“Krishna insisted on outer cleanliness and inner cleansing. Clean clothes and clean minds are an ideal combination.”
I like this one by Dr. Laurence J. Peter, “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, what is the significance of a clean desk?”
Clearly this clutter is bothering me (and you’re probably thinking it should, for the love of Pete). And this messiness is not just in my car. It’s my purse, my bedroom, bathroom, kitchen cupboards, my office, my email mailboxes, etc., etc. So starting tomorrow I’m going to start to clean up my car and my character but there is no promise about the godliness part.
5th March, 2010 at 11:02 am
Oh my gosh, that is my car and my life. What does that say about us?!!! I am going to get rid of my car to start with so I can start over! Yikes!!!
5th March, 2010 at 12:59 pm
Wow, what an insight to what we drive around with. My car is strewn with old magazines, a yoga mat and reusable grocery bags. At least I don’t have any Little League jock straps lying around, like I used to when the boys were younger.
As for what clutter says about us — I think it means we have better things to do with our time than to clean our cars.
6th March, 2010 at 8:37 am
Hey Claire–It is amazing what we drive around with. It’s good to hear you’ve cleaned out your car since your boys were young. I know I have better things to do than clean, but I do think I need to put de-cluttering my life up to number 500 compared to where it is now…not even on my list. Oh, well…time to work on 499: Read that article from 1999 magazine on getting organized.
6th March, 2010 at 9:00 am
Since I still have kids at home, I also have a first aid kit, power bars, magazines for idle moments (since I suck at being idle),my younger daughter’s tennis gear, and about a week’s worth of trash. I say a week’s worth because that’s my limit on sharing my space with trash. So what does the clutter say about us? Maybe it just says we’re busy, productive members of society. Maybe it means we don’t have to have OCD to be contented. But it could be that we’re just messy, and that would be OK, too.
I love your blog, Michelle. Your voice, the pictures – it totally rocks.
8th March, 2010 at 8:33 pm
I love your response, Trish. It makes me realize I am not alone in this messy, OCD, busy world. Thanks for being on the ride with me!
13th March, 2010 at 11:04 am
Hi Michelle –
Your blog is terrific – I drive a Toyota, so I’m just happy to arrive anywhere in one piece!
Barbara