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Man vs. Domicile: Cable, Button, Charger

A messy desk is draining. A drain of that kind can be an unacceptable liability in the treacherous day to day grind of domestic life. It was with little enthusiasm but great urgency that I went about cleaning my desk recently. This was yet another battle in which man fights a valiant, but longer than expected, battle -- and wins.

But in the struggle of desk organization, you never get a clean win. Witness the loose ends that remain. We have cables. We have buttons. We have a AC to DC power adapter.

Desk cleaning is a ruthless process. Shopping bags are nearby, at the ready to be filled and taken to the curb. My method calls for grabbing an item and staring it down. It either gets thrown away or finds a permanent place in the office. My currently clean desk is a testament to the hardening of my heart which allows for split-second trashing decisions.

But I have to admit embarrassment. There are a few items that evade my best efforts. They remain behind to mock me.

The cable is a computer serial connector (female) on one end and a 1/8 inch phone plug on the other. What is it for? Not only can I not remember, I can barely imagine what I was connecting to my computer with this cable.

The battery charger reads "Sony" on it. It's clearly for a Sony product. It looks as though it's never been used. What is it for? What Sony-branded item do I own which is sitting idle somewhere because it doesn't have any power? I don't know.

And the button? Buttons are tiny items "designed" to be found when you are cleaning an area. Once enough junk accumulates in one location, buttons spontaneously come into existence. The process is not well understood, but experiments that prove this phenomenon are repeatable.

These items cannot be thrown away. The button is borderline, but its tiny size works in its favor. The cable and adapter present a mystery. It's a mystery that would be solved 5 minutes after they were carted off to the dump, and for that reason they cannot be thrown away. They were never useful sitting on my desk, but they would likely become necessary and difficult toreplace if I were to dispose of them.

So there is a place for chargers and cables in our house. It is an enormous bin. It is a zoo of captive cables and adapters, mingling together but separated from their natural environments. Out of sight, they are also out of mind. Under the plastic container cover, their mocking cries are easier to ignore.

But you will always know they are there, somewhere in the domicile. And when you are jolted awake in a cold sweat, you hope that the thought of them does not prevent a return to your slumber. If you have any gods, you pray to them.

Posted by James at October 20, 2007 9:06 AM
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