The Joy of Cleaning Out Storage Areas

Last weekend, my supervisor asked me to help out with a project of cleaning out the towers' storage areas. I said I would, since I really want to use this new area for meeting space, or some kind of community area for the residents of the development. Still crossing my fingers that this will work out, since this area is in need of some space where the residents can meet and actually FEEL like a community as opposed to strangers living in the same area. Not like I think any of this will help in the short term, you know, the time I actually need to see change for my AmeriCorps "goals" or whatever.

Anyway. Before cleaning day, we sent out notices to the residents that we would be cleaning it out, so they could pick up anything we wanted to discard (there was furniture, books, bikes etc. from past residents up there). I got there right when the manager would be opening it up, and there was already a line of people waiting to get in. Unfortunately, there was not a lot of big items to take. The best thing someone got away with was a 30 inch-ish TV.

Other stuff I found was weird: a dried up condom (still rolled up, so unused...I think...and remember I had on work gloves but it was still insanely gross). I also saw these really cool antique looking, wooden cigar boxes. I would have taken them, if a resident didn't take it, but I came out of the experience empty handed because everything was either gross (my gloved hand was sticking to things!) or taken.

One storage bin was interesting. Its content included: "old lady" clothes, stanky ass perfume spilled inside an old school makeup tote, a plant with soil intact, an adult bath commode, a gold box containing rosary beads and a prayer book and here's the best part (especially considering the last thing I listed), a paperback copy of The Joy of Sex. You know, that book from the 70's with illustrated pictures of couples in sexual positions. When I found it I was giggling (because I am actually 12 years old) and a resident and one of my co-workers was next to me, and asked what I found. I showed them. My co-worker said, "That's a classic." And then the resident took it from me and put it into her box of things she was collecting. I would have love to have met the woman who owned those items.