I just did something I never thought I could do...
I just tossed books in the trash. I've been holding onto them for years, wondering how to recycle them, or give them away...
But honestly? What poor or homeless person wants the Uniform Commercial Code from 2001? And what poor person wants my marked-up Elements Book? Or an Old Emmanuel's Property Outline that's five years outdated?
No one.
And who takes books in Miami for recycling? No one that's close or convenient to get to.
So you know what I did? I threw 100 lbs of books in the trash. I haven't opened them in years, and they've been taking up space. Do I feel guilty for throwing away books? Absolutely. Am I glad that I now have an entire bookshelf's worth of space that I didn't before because I couldn't get over throwing away dusty, unused books? Absolutely.
What wins? The relief of not having to tote my Elements book or the 2005 Federal Income Tax Code, along with a Federal Income Tax Crunchtime and a Federal Income Tax Examples and Explanations with me to my new place.
Fuck those books.
Fuck the space they took up and the dust they collected.
Good riddance.
posted by SuperBee at 11:12 AM
7 Comments:
I did the same thing when we moved here. I cleared an entire floor to ceiling bookcase. It was so liberating. We are bad about keeping books for books sake, and not for any redeeming value.
10:59 AM
Exactly. I keep them because they're somewhat sacred to me, being books and all, but really? If you're never going to read them again... it's like collecting newspaper. Useless.
12:44 PM
Maybe I wanted those books; thanks for asking.
6:21 PM
Having said that, we have a complete and in excellent condition 1928 set of encyclopedias. I've opened one of them once. And yet, I will NOT get rid of that.
4:49 AM
Jess - you had those books. You threw them out. We took most of the same classes, remember? I don't feel bad.
RT - Encyclopedias are JUST the types of books people SHOULD feel bad about throwing out. Those are sacred books. Elements books are not.
5:59 AM
I ended up taking them to my office to fill my empty shelves there. At least it looks like I went to law school or maybe used books at some point in my life. And if I leave the job, who is to say that I will remember to take them with me?
But they did sit in a big pile on the floor for a long long long time before I got up the energy to lug them to the office.
6:49 AM
This is like Fahrenheit 451 over here!
5:48 PM
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