After one of our weekly Monday morning advertising meetings, the ever-popular bag phone, for whatever reason, was the topic of our post-meeting conversation.
I was a proud bag phone user and would still be today if it was up to me. If memory serves me, it was a Motorola. I did check on eBay and found one just like the one I had for $14.99 plus $11.99 for shipping. Anyway, this brings me to the topic at hand and that is the throwaway society we currently live in.
But instead of writing about the things we use and then throw away as soon as the latest style or color comes along, instead I want to give some love to the things that have stood the test of time and for whatever reason I still have around and still use — if not on a regular basis, at least every once in a while.
The first thing that comes to mind, much to the dismay of my family, is my spring jacket I hope to be wearing more often than not the rest of the month. I have had the jacket for more than 17 years.
My toolbox has more than a couple of items that have been around for two generations, and I also have a draw knife that, if I were to pass it on to one of my grandsons, he would be the fifth generation of Petersons to have it and wonder what it’s for.
I have an aluminum scoop shovel, and I know the scoop part is at least four inches shorter than it was when it was new. It worked perfectly on the high snowbanks at the end of the driveway this year.
The towrope in the back of my vehicle is 20 years old and only used twice. The little lock box I have been using for the past 41 years still works.
I still have the first shotgun I bought used oh so many years ago, and I still use it. The same can be said for my favorite hunting hat.
The pencil sharpener on my desk has been with me for 20 years or more, and the same can be said for my letter opener.
I would still be using my 15-year-old grandpa coffee cup each morning if it hadn’t cracked. I still have the cup — it’s just been retired, not thrown away.
For those of you in the throwaway crowd who live in the city of Luverne, you should have received a letter last week explaining the rules and dates of the citywide junk pickup.
The city has been doing this annual junk pickup for years, and you would think we would be running out of junk sometime soon.
The list of junk that the city won’t pick up is getting longer and longer, so I would suggests you follow the rules or you’ll be hauling a lot of your junk back into your garage.