Senior Moments by
Charles P. Eberson
I have piles and they are irritating. My wife has told me numerous times that I have to take care of them. That they are not good for me and I would be more at peace if I just dealt with the piles on a regular basis. She even offered her help. I am not talking about the medical condition of piles, more commonly known as hemorrhoids but something even more insidious. It is my stacks of papers, mail, bills and publications that has my better half clamoring for a solution. What makes things worse is that my wife is one of the most organized people I know. Her recent career as an administrative secretary was a case study in organization and efficiency. At any time, she was able to lay her hands on important confidential materials much to the amazement of her supervisor and colleagues which, I am sure, contributes to the irritation she feels about my piles.
I, on the other hand put things in piles. This used to be a bone of contention when at times the “I’ll get to this later” pile on the dining room table would tilt like the leaning tower of Pisa. When the next piece of mail is gingerly placed on top like a reversal of the game Jenga and the pile falls over, it is time for me to go through the contents. In an effort to extricate myself from the situation, I reminded her of my best friend, a very successful estate attorney who had piles of folders, articles, issues of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, etc. on the floor and most level surfaces around his condo. My wife reminded me that I was not a successful attorney who lived alone. In the interest of marital harmony, I have moved the pile into my home office where it has spawned multiple smaller piles.
Years ago, I conceded to try it my wife’s way. We got a file cabinet with hangers and a box of manila folders and made it a joint effort of organizing, labeling and placing the files in the hangers. Each pile was gone through and broken down into categories that matched the folders and gradually the piles disappeared. But that did not stem the tide of incoming magazines, statements and other documents that grew into a “To Be Filed” pile. Some documents and statements didn’t have a folder assigned to them so other folders had to be named and filed. This all seemed to be time consuming additional work to which my wife told me that it would all be worth it in the end and I would save time looking for things.
Clearly, our brains work differently and the filing system became a thing of the past. If I am looking for paperwork, I only have to consult a couple of piles. Everything goes in those piles so I know exactly where to look. To the untrained eye, this may appear haphazard but to me it is a finely tuned system. Occasionally, a little treasure shows up in those piles; something I had long forgot about. I would rush in to wherever my wife was excitingly present it to her with the exclamation, “Look what I found” only to be greeted with a roll of the eyes. Does anyone want a perfectly good wooden filing cabinet? Slightly used.
Charles Eberson has been in the newspaper business for over 25 years. He has worked as a writer, advertising executive, circulation manager and photographer. His photography can be viewed at charles-eberson.fineartamerica.com
