The morning after BlogHerCon ...
B-friend's entirely too on-it this morning. He's stacked all of the GM bags we collected and organized the loads of schwag we accumulated at the end of BlogHer.
"I just couldn't let it all go to waste," he said.
I know, I know, if every person on the planet could pick up just one piece of trash, oh how much cleaner our planet could be; but all I could think about was the other 300 or so items we'd left at the hotel. A lifetime re-gifting supply of Crabtree & Evelyn.
B-friend laid out all of the items in degrees of desirability. He'd put the Elexa T-shirts in the "New Rag" pile.
"DOOOOoooon't!"
"You have so many of these already."
"I can't believe YOU are choosing what stays and what goes!"
"We have to be realistic, Jory. We can't keep all of this."
"Fine, but the Baby T's stay!"
"Fine."
I throw the Elexa condoms into the Keep pile.
"Why are you doing that, Jory?"
"I'm curious."
"I told you--we have too much stuff!'
"OK, I get it, we can keep the leather-bound CD cases, the corkscrews and the Yahoo! notebooks, but that's it, huh?"
"Those I can use for road trips."
"Fine. But gimme the Brandimensions highlighter."
(Exasperated sigh) "Fine ... hey, what are you doing! Why are you keeping all of that stuff over there!"
"These are gift piles. The bibs and the PBS Parents calendar go to Julie (my sister and mother of a four-month-old), I know Mom wants a tote. And they both get Crabtree & Evelyn."
"Jory! Didn't we just say we have to whittle this down?" He tossed the empty GM bags into the trash.
"DOOOOOOoooooOOOOOOooooon't!"
"No, Jory. We have to throw stuff out."
"We NEED those!
"For what?"
"Stuff ... lunches."
"I don't need them. And you work from home--you don't pack lunches. They go in recycling .... What are these, Bookmarks from Blurb? Throw these out."
"DOOOOOoooooOOOOOooooon't!"
Umm can we talk. This throwing away of swag, is troubling me. There are people who would appreciate these things. Can we not, next year, have a swag recycle box at the door and whatever is tossed in goes to a shelter? or some stuff to schools? Please.
I just included this topic on my "real" recap post so I'm glad you mentioned it.
Though I will agree that I am sitting here looking at the piles of stuff and wondering what to do with it all, where to send it, who will like it. (do you have any school age kids in your world - the stickers and bookmarks would be fun - they can cut them up for collage)
Posted by: Denise | August 03, 2006 at 10:21 AM
Jory,
He is a man of the earth... Yes, we want to keep it all (I seriously eyed all the extra GM bags Saturday night, but left them.)
One suggestion. The Depot for Creative Reuse up in Berkeley would LOVE anything he's thinking about tossing into the waste stream. Including paper bags. A twenty minute drive up the bay.. and he'd feel so justifiably satisfied!!
Afterwards, lunch at Scharfenbergers could assuage much sadness at not keeping everything.
Posted by: Debra Roby | August 03, 2006 at 01:05 PM
Yeah, and don't forget Jenna...she loves totes and stuff...what about her kids at school? Got any goodies for them...Geesh...don't waste that stuff....someone's always gotta be thinking....Am I driving you crazy yet?
Posted by: Joy | August 03, 2006 at 01:57 PM
I can't believe he was going to throw out the baby doll tees. Those are badass. Is he ok?
Posted by: Christien | August 03, 2006 at 02:03 PM
Too funny! I can totally hear the conversation.
I've got some stuff to go to the Creative Reuse center that Debra has so helpfully suggested. Perhaps we can grab Britt and carpool?
And you've got to keep the tee since you are one of the few who can rock it!
Posted by: Maria Niles | August 03, 2006 at 05:15 PM
I didn't realize the corkscrew had a cigar cutter on top until I went to open a bottle of wine last night. Can't have that within reach of little fingers.
Posted by: mothergoosemouse | August 04, 2006 at 12:19 PM
BF! Be careful!
Remember if you want something and your beloved wants something different, you need to listen till you really get what she's talking about and then get her to do the same. You both had legit reasons, there's compromise in there just begging for your attention. Then you'd have got to declutter your poor little home to a level that satisfied you both.
Posted by: Chris | August 04, 2006 at 01:28 PM
Everyone at work is BEGGING me to bring in the female condom. I'm like - hey, once I open it, I CAN NEVER TRY TO USE IT. They should've given us two, since they had a carrying case and all. I mean, really.
Posted by: dorothy | August 04, 2006 at 06:28 PM
I think a schwag recycling area is a great idea. I'm sure someone else would love the baby bib, the t-shirt, etc. I'm all for extra bottles of the Crabtree and Evelyn lotion. Love that stuff.
Posted by: Elise | August 05, 2006 at 09:20 PM
Pleasure is often a essence have the ability to fill directly on some people not having purchasing a a small amount of is catagorized regarding your body. [url=http://f44.fr/]http://f44.fr[/url] http://f44.fr
Posted by: http://f44.fr | May 09, 2013 at 12:05 AM
[url=http://www.3f2xrpF0gUesT3765e7R5v.com/]NJwzpKLu[/url]
NJwzpKLu http://www.3f2xrpF0gUesT3765e7R5v.com/
NJwzpKLu
Posted by: NJwzpKLu | May 09, 2013 at 01:26 AM
The Relationship Chronicles: One man's schwag is one woman's treasure - Pause coach outlet http://coach.me.pn/ coach outlet
Posted by: coach outlet | May 09, 2013 at 04:06 AM