Big shredder day

Saturday afternoon I stopped by a pet supply store to buy some Greenies for my dogs. The weather was a little drizzly and gray, but there were long lines of people in the parking lot queued up to two big semi trailers. I mean there were 40-50 people there, each toting containers or pushing carts. Being the curious sort that I am, I asked a woman in the line what was going on. She returned an astonished look and replied, "Why, we're bringing paper to be shredded." Like, isn't that what every responsible person does on a Saturday afternoon?

I just smiled and said, "Oh, I see." But I didn't, really. I started trying to imagine... what on earth would motivate people to save huge quantities of paper to bring to a collection site like this?

First of all, how hard is it to get an inexpensive cross-cut shredder for home use. I got one at Costco for $20 and it works perfectly.

Second. It strikes me as a collosal waste of perfectly good time. Hey, drizzle or no, it was Saturday. Why hang out in a parking lot with several tons of paper and a couple of trailers? And it was slow going, too. A woman who seemed to be some sort of official was going down the line telling people that another truck would be coming from Stockton and it would be arriving in about an hour. And people were going to WAIT!

Besides, it's not like the city neglects the concept of recycling. We just have to put our recyclables out and trucks come by to collect.

So, this shredder event must have been a major priority for all these people. It's just fascinating to me. I'm still thinking about it today and it's Thursday. I wish I'd thought to call my friend Pamela to come over to sell Identity Theft plans!

I'm reminded that from broader perspective life truly is an enormous banquet table, fabulously laden with all manner of choices. People can choose exactly what they want, and I can too. It's all good.