Pictures, Plates, Condoms & Pot
June 6, 2006
We almost finished gutting a house today. All that is left is the trim at the top near the ceiling, many pieces of drywall to be picked up and large appliances removed. This is the house that they started on Saturday, and we haven’t finished even at this point. Phew. As the people that gut the house, we are responsible for salvaging any items that we can that weren’t too badly damaged from the storm, or the toxic flood water. This is the first house that I have been a part of since arriving on Saturday night. I didn’t see the house in tact, but saw all of the furniture in the front yard-if it can be called that and all of the debris that had been taken out of the house thus far. While we were gutting yesterday, we came upon some very interesting artifacts. Already recovered from the house were wine glasses, some pictures-of the wedding sort, and others (that will come in a minute…). As the gutting continued a few other things were discovered. I found an old set of dishes in one of the closets, they were white ceramic with gold trim, I also found at least 3 condoms in wrappers and one that had maybe been used and thrown aside in the end. Also recovered the previous day was a black vase in which we found an abundance of pot, pictures showing the occupants of the house fondling one another and other people, and some notes that had been written-someone’s idea of a rap.
Now it may appear that I’m boistering (is that a word?) about all of this, but I’m not. It leads me to many thoughts.
In each of our lives there are things that we hide from the ones that we love the most, and things that we hide from family and even a life that we try to portray to a general population of our co-workers, our dinner-dates, and in our common conversations.
When the residents of this house were doing all of these things, expressing themselves in a manner they felt comfortable with, do you think they ever thought that complete strangers would be sifting through the wreckage trying to save pieces of their lives that are almost unrecognizable?
I know that for me it was a sobering experience. What do I have in my life that I try to hide from people? Is there anything that I own, figuratively or literally, that I hide from those that are close to me? Or only let a select few see?
We will be able to give these residents back ALL of the things that we found. It’s fortunate that we all have our ‘dirty little secrets’ that we try and hide from the world, or it might be a bit awkward to return the pictures, plates, condoms and pot.
June 6, 2006
We almost finished gutting a house today. All that is left is the trim at the top near the ceiling, many pieces of drywall to be picked up and large appliances removed. This is the house that they started on Saturday, and we haven’t finished even at this point. Phew. As the people that gut the house, we are responsible for salvaging any items that we can that weren’t too badly damaged from the storm, or the toxic flood water. This is the first house that I have been a part of since arriving on Saturday night. I didn’t see the house in tact, but saw all of the furniture in the front yard-if it can be called that and all of the debris that had been taken out of the house thus far. While we were gutting yesterday, we came upon some very interesting artifacts. Already recovered from the house were wine glasses, some pictures-of the wedding sort, and others (that will come in a minute…). As the gutting continued a few other things were discovered. I found an old set of dishes in one of the closets, they were white ceramic with gold trim, I also found at least 3 condoms in wrappers and one that had maybe been used and thrown aside in the end. Also recovered the previous day was a black vase in which we found an abundance of pot, pictures showing the occupants of the house fondling one another and other people, and some notes that had been written-someone’s idea of a rap.
Now it may appear that I’m boistering (is that a word?) about all of this, but I’m not. It leads me to many thoughts.
In each of our lives there are things that we hide from the ones that we love the most, and things that we hide from family and even a life that we try to portray to a general population of our co-workers, our dinner-dates, and in our common conversations.
When the residents of this house were doing all of these things, expressing themselves in a manner they felt comfortable with, do you think they ever thought that complete strangers would be sifting through the wreckage trying to save pieces of their lives that are almost unrecognizable?
I know that for me it was a sobering experience. What do I have in my life that I try to hide from people? Is there anything that I own, figuratively or literally, that I hide from those that are close to me? Or only let a select few see?
We will be able to give these residents back ALL of the things that we found. It’s fortunate that we all have our ‘dirty little secrets’ that we try and hide from the world, or it might be a bit awkward to return the pictures, plates, condoms and pot.
posted by kelli at 5:08 PM
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