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5 Shevat 5760 - January 12, 2000 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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Home and Family
Lightening the Load
by Malka Adler

I don't know about anyone else, but my contributions to the refuse bins have been noticeably lighter lately. Consciously, I know that the soda cap collection has been concluded, but subconsciously, I'm still saving them on the shelf.

Calcium consumption has increased since the latest fad has caught on: accumulating covers of dairy yogurts. I was blissfully unaware of this latest race until one of my granchildren came upon me clearing the breakfast table. I had innocently discarded what I assumed were disposable items, not potential keys to a treasure chest. There was a rush to the pail where the flimsy covers were retrieved with a relieved sigh. One doesn't get much breathing space.

No sooner have we recovered from the cornflakes box collection than we're being bombarded by Bamba bags. It has become a time-consuming, as well as space consuming project: mailing merchandise, filling out forms and traveling to pick up prizes... again and again. "The supply has run out. Please come back tomorrow between 4:00 and 4:27." "The man in charge isn't in. Come back tomorrow about 6:15." Not a.m. (but sometimes I wonder when they DO have a supply.) Before today's scavenger hunt has ended, tomorrow's is booked solid! Should anyone ever be bored in Israel, very unlikely, these contagious contests are famous for their feverishly desperate deadlines. It keeps the adults on their toes and insures that the children become quite calendar conscious.

I've also lightened the load for the sanitation workers by eliminating potato, cucumber, squash and carrot peels. These are designated in a separate bag for the benefit of a gentleman rabbit called Honey Bunny who lives next door.

These hoarding habits gradually become ingrained. To this day, I can't eat an apricot and simply discard the pit without visualizing the faces of grief- stricken grandchildren. Years ago, we had the dubious distinction of being the proud possessors of a considerable collection of more than 1,000 pits (adjuim/gogoim). This was a source of a great deal of innocent pleasure for my sons and a particular favorite of the ant population in the immediate vicinity. [Then I discovered that these pits promote the gambling urge in kids...]

Nu, so who needs a garbage disposal unit?

 

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