Honey, I Cleaned the Garage.

I recently have been part of family’s struggle to maintain an organized garage.  In order to protect the guilty I will change the name of people in my story.  But those of you familiar with the story will likely see through the hidden names.

You see at some people’s house the husband and the wife have different views of what is garbage and what isn't.  The exact place where this battle takes place within the house can change from home to home but it seems to happen to some degree within most every house I know of.   For some the battleground is the closet of the master bed room or the basement.  But for the couple in my story it was the garage.

The husband, Donny, likes to save things.  Until this weekend the place he kept these valuables was the family’s garage.  The wife, Marie, thought that her car should go into the garage.  But alas Donny and Marie's garage was too full to fit any cars.

Although the things in the garage didn't make Donny happy they did make Marie sad.  She wondered why he can’t throw away those things.  They are trash and they are in the way.  He is never going to us them.

Donny couldn’t bear to get rid of these valuable.  He looked at the items and thought “someday I can use that for something special.”  To him they were worth something because potentially the items in his garage had a future use.  Donny thought “if we save it we won't need to buy it later.”

Donny also looked at some of the things with a sentimental eye.  The items brought back happy memories.  (That reminds me of a different couple that has a Porsche that hasn't run since before they were married over 15 years and 2 houses ago.  He won't get rid of it and she says it reminded her of his old girlfriend!!! But that is another story.)

This weekend Donny decided to clean out the garage and make room for Marie's car.  It didn't take long and soon enough the garage was clean and everybody was happy. 

I asked Donny what he did with the old stuff expecting to hear about a sale and how much money he made.  Instead Donny said that it all went in the trash.  (So much for the items being worth something.)

Marie is quite happy with Donny now.  Instead of holding on to these items Donny decided to make Marie happy. 

So what is the point of this story beyond being a good spouse that wants to please the other spouse? 

Donny is also happy.  He wasn't forced to clean his garage.  Marie had let it be in the current condition for years. But now the garage is clean an organized. 

That doesn't mean that you have to throw everything out to be organized.  I am sure that if something truly still had value Donny found it an organized place with their garage.  But if an item had lost its usefulness it was discarded.

It is Donny's organizational skills that make him such a valuable team member and co-worker at Willmar Electric.  Willmar Electric promises our customers that we will be on-time, organized and approachable.  It was has bringing that skill home that made his garage clean and his wife happy.