Article: 261573 of talk.bizarre
From: plord@shellx.best.com (a hurricane triggered by butterfly's wings)
Newsgroups: talk.bizarre
Subject: what's inside? (second try)
Date: 1 Dec 1995 23:28:41 -0800
Organization: the breaking of small, important bones
Lines: 105
Message-ID: <49ov79$nbk@shellx.best.com>
Status: O
X-Status: 


Pick a container.  Any container will do, but for now, consider
a suitcase.[1] It should have a known volume, with some small
margin for expansion, which we will call the "cram factor." It's
purpose holds to sail beyond the sunset-- no wait, YOUR purpose
holds to sail beyond the sunset.  The suitcase just helps you
get all your stuff there with you.

You know the routine; you open the suitcase, pack your stuff,
move from point a to point b, and then unpack the suitcase.

This description, though, falls well within the realms of
trivial facts, which, quite frankly, bore me to tears.  So I'd
like, if I may, to move the discussion back to a nice, real,
metaphysical level that we can all understand.  For the rest of
this post, please consider the suitcase as a metaphor.  It can
represent your brain, your body, your life, the whole of
creation[2], whatever.  But pick something NOW and stick with
it.  Got one?  Good.

*

So how do you pack your suitcase?  Do you throw things in
haphazardly?  Do you fold everything to save space?  Do you
balance light and heavy objects to make it easier to carry?  Do
you have smaller bags for loose objects, or do you just throw
everything in and let the games begin?  Do you keep important
things out of the suitcase, and carry them with you everywhere?
Or do you lock certain important things in the suitcase and
trust them to arrive with you?

Do you remember when your parents used to pack your bags?  Did
they ever remember to include all of the stuff you wanted?  

*

'This suitcase is packaged by volume, but wait, some settling
may have occurred during shipping.' Do you ever notice how much
stuff inside the suitcase has moved around since you packed it? 
Does this alarm you, or amuse you?

*

I keep seeing signs in airports, warning you not to leave your
suitcase unattended, so nobody can pack anything you didn't
expect.  The airport authorities are much wiser than they
realize.

*

Have you ever arrived at point b, unpacked your bags, and found
that you've forgotten to pack something important?  Sometimes,
you forget really big things, things you can't believe you
overlooked.  Sometimes you rationalize it by saying you
overlooked this thing or that thing while trying to conserve
space, but we both know better.  You packed the bag yourself,
and you spent a lot of time doing it, too, and somehow, you've
gone and left out your address book, or 1993, or the recipe for
joy.  It happens.  Sometimes you can buy these things while
you're at point b, but they're never quite the same, are they?


*

Sometimes, you arrive at point b, unpack your bags, and find all
SORTS of stuff you forgot was in there.  Sometimes, you find
really big things, things you can't believe you overlooked. 
This can be fun, but confusing.  You packed the damn bag, didn't
you?  How, you think to yourself, HOW could I have missed 1981? 
I mean, 1981 is HUGE.  It's always harder to get those things
back into the bag once you've realized how big they are, isn't
it?

*

Of course, while you're in point b, you're constantly
accumulating more stuff to put into the suitcase.  The spatial
geometries of re-packing for the return journey (or the
continuing journey, as is often the case with these metaphors)
are left as an exercise for the reader, who by this age should
be getting pretty good at it, don't you agree?

*

Have you ever had somebody get into your suitcase and steal
stuff?  Have you ever misplaced the whole thing, or had it
stolen, or found upon arriving that your suitcase went on to
Borneo without you?  I hate it when that happens.

*

Have you ever considered getting a larger suitcase?  Was it more
difficult or less difficult to pack?  Contrariwise, how many
times have you unloaded a lot of stuff and packed a smaller bag? 
Did you feel that traveling light helped you move faster, or
were you frustrated that you no longer had some of your old
stuff around all the time while you traveled?

[1] This is Brett's metaphor, but I've been using it a lot.   Obviously.
[2] I can hear you snickering.  This is not, strictly speaking,
    a drug thing.  No matter how well it works as one.

paul
-- 
expand your vocabulary in new directions