The Out Basket ~ Complaint Department

The Out Basket ~ 

Complaint Department

No one ever really thinks about me and how important I am. ‘Oh, it’s just the the out basket. Toss it in there and the secretary will take care of it.’ There are days when I just look like a glutton. In an office, where I am usually treated with a modicum of respect, a good secretary keeps the out basket as clear and free of all incoming mail and interoffice memos as possible. She, or he, adds a reminder now and then in bold lettering: ‘OUT BASKET ONLY. This is not a garbage can.’! 

But, at home, that is so different. That same efficient secretary ~ her name by the way is Matilda ~ just keeps loading me up. Not just mail though. Oh no. Mending, bills to be paid, unopened junk mail, book returns, lists. So many lists. File folders jammed with who knows what. I should be kept neat and tidy, not overflowing with every stray item that Matilda has saved for ‘another day’. I mean, really, I am not attached to pneumatic tube system that delivers everything to their places. I am not a direct route to the trash can. I do feel like I’m being treated like one sometimes. Or is it a safety deposit box? 

And what kind of an out basket did Matilda, Miss Efficient Secretary, at work get? A cold wire metal basket or a brittle, shiny plastic tray? I am much more attractive. Beautiful honey coloured wicker with a strong metal frame. Handsome, even if I do say so myself. I’m much bigger and can hold so much more, which may be my downfall. Never the less, I am beautiful and at the same time handsome. Until of course, Matilda starts stacking things inside my wonderful spacious self. 

And, not to sound like a martyr, but I do have to listen to all the muttering of this motley array of items stacked and crammed between my stalwart sides. If any of us could really and truly voice our concerns, we would be moaning and groaning loudly with directions to “Please, please! File us away. Get your mending done. Take that book back to the library. This very nice basket, although very welcoming, keeps us all in limbo!! Sadly, we just have to sit here patiently until Matilda needs some important piece of paper she has lost. Does that sound like a ray of hope? It is a very thin ray. She comes digging through all of these myriad contents. Shuffles them all up. Then with either a ‘yay’ (very infrequent) or a sigh of resignation, she takes what she needs, puts everything back ~ completely out of order ~ leaving us alone once more. It is so very annoying.

“Being taken for granted can be a compliment. It means that you’ve 

become a comfortable, trusted element in another person’s life.”

~ Joyce Brothers