Test. Test. Is This Thing On?

I hate clutter. I think everything should have its place. And if it is not important enough to have its own place it ought to be thrown out. I guess I'm a neat freak.

For example: When I get the mail every day I put it on the kitchen table for my wife to see when she gets home. The mail typically consists of bills, ads and magazines/catalogs. It has never been my intention to have the kitchen table be the final resting place for every bill, ad and magazine/catalog that enters the house. I put that stuff there as a courtesy. But the piles just keep growing.

And here's the thing. It's not like these things don't have a place of their own. I have a complete office with filing cabinets and vertical IN/OUT trays on the desk and my wife has a file folder in her briefcase for the bills. The waste basket is a fairly convenient place for most of the ads. I have a place in the office for the magazines we subscribe to and another place for the current catalogs. But for some reason the stacks of mail will stay on the kitchen table for weeks at a time.

Now, I know what you are thinking. "Why doesn't he sort the mail and put it where it belongs?" I could easily do that. But when I did, bills didn't get paid, I'd throw out the wrong advertising flyers (coupons, etc.), subscription renewal dates would get missed, and she likes to look at some of the art catalogs.

So, I'm not sure there is a solution. I hate clutter and she gets to the stacks of mail on some biological schedule that I have been unable to decipher. We have talked about this many times and nothing has ever changed.

Why am I writing about this today? I got to thinking that maybe this is one of those subjects that her brain automatically opts out of. You know, I start talking, her brain identifies the subject and suddenly all she hears is, "Blah, blah, blah." Maybe she can't even help it. It might be a conditioned reflex. Maybe she doesn't even know this is bugging me.

So I decided to try a different sensory input. I know she reads my blog every day. (Hi, Nina.)

My next attempt will be a message in alphabet soup. Maybe she'll taste the clutter.