Hoodoo Highway

Purging

Our office is moving next week. To that end we are all packing up our offices. I moved over here in 2004 and shipped way more than I needed from my office in Little Rock.

This time around, I am being heartless. I am throwing away more stuff than I am keeping. Do I really need a mailing list from 1993???

One of the hardest things for me to throw away was my 3 huge binders of cause cases. These are investigations I did over the years where I found a violation. These represent what our agency is here for. The good we accomplish for individuals. I threw all of that away. It was a good feeling though to go through some of the lawsuits that had been filed as a result of my investigations, to see the relief we obtained for individuals who were discriminated against and just to see the hard work I had done that had paid off over the years. I always kept those as a validation. When things got tough, I could look at them and remind myself of the reason I worked here. I do not need that anymore. This job assignment is a bit different. I am involved in education and prevention now, so I feel like I help people all the time.

It was freeing to throw away so much stuff. Yet, some things I still cannot part with. That stupid hat I got in a truck stop in Gurdon, Arkansas in 1986 that says "There you go again, thinking you have rights"... why do I keep this thing? That stupid pen holder a co worker made me out of a toilet paper roll... I guess because they remind me of the laughter and good times we had back then.

I got rid of so much, I gave up a 5 drawer legal size file cabinet. That is major - no one in government work ever gives up a piece of furniture once they get their hands on it....

posted by Deb @ 6:40 PM