The Game du Jour is Rock, Paper, Scissors.
With a room full of paper, how am I going to win?
Project Housekeeper’s Room (previous post) has come to a temporary halt. The amount of stuff emanating from the cupboards, drawers and shelves has filled our bins and the car boot is full of bags for the recycling centre and charity shops. KL Sister says she cannot process anything anymore, either physically or mentally.
I look into my father’s study, variously described by my mother and sister as a nightmare, a death trap, a pasar malam (night market). Not in jest and not with affection. It is knee-high in deep piles of paper, boxes and bags.
It has taken a lot of persuasion to even be allowed to enter the room, let alone touch a single sheet of paper.
Rock, Paper, Scissors is a game of strategy and being Rock in this case will cause me to lose to Paper. So I need to be Scissors and cut through any bit of resistance that comes my way.
No hard tactics then, but sharp tactics instead.
Why do people hoard? I suggested previously that it is in order to provide some sense of identity and security. What do people hoard? In this case it is books, company reports, financial data, stock market charts, analytical information…anything that can help with making a sound financial investment.
That’s the idea anyway.
So I start by telling my father that he really needs to gather more positive energy in his study, in order to make more money. The only way to do this is by getting rid of all the paper that is in the way.
Scissors gets the upper hand and I have made a start this afternoon. My fingers were black from the dust and my knees red from kneeling on the parquet floors whilst rooting around the bags.
There is a good two weeks’ work ahead, in between visits to the care home, visits to the hospital (my dad is recovering from surgery) and looking after my disabled sister. To stay in the game I am going to need help from some Korean and English friends and I will introduce them in the next post.
