|
|
|
|
from this perspective,
they're just trinkets
 |
Many
of these objects are children's toys or jewelry, probably for
the rather simple reason that adults empty their pockets more
often than children do.
This one seems to be a well-chewed plastic Superman boot, suitable
for a keychain. Would it be missed? To tell the truth, I don't
think that even I would miss it. |
A rubber
band for tieing hair in a pony tail. Even after the wash a couple
of hairs have stayed intact.
Did the girl who lost this tell her mother every day for two
weeks that she wanted her hair tied only in this particular
band? Did the family search for it? Did they ultimately forget
about it? Did they reclaim it? |
 |
 |
Judging
by its color, this dogtag is from this year, meaning that there's
probably a dog wandering around somewhere on the kibbutz that
really got it's rabies shot, but can't prove it.
But if a tag like this fell off a dog, it still wouldn't get
directly to the wash. Someone must have found it and held onto
it in his or her pocket, intending, until it was thrown in the
wash, either to return it to the dog and its owner, or perhaps
put it on his or her own dog. |
This
earring seems quite inexpensive, but perhaps it was hand-made
by the person who wore it? Or maybe a son or daughter made it
for his or her mother and for that reason it held great sentimental
value?
I don't know much about style, but as far as earrings go, this
one would definitely seem to be out of it, which also suggests
that either this was a child's piece of junk jewelry (though
it doesn't look the part, and has a hook for a pierced ear)
or was hand-made by someone who wasn't exactly an artisan. Of
the items I've chosen to display here, this one seems to be
the one that would have been missed most, though all of my speculation
on this issue is no more than just that. |
 |
 |
This
seems to be a small pin, most probably from a child's jewelry
collection. I suppose that my daughter has tens of pins like
this one in her jewelry box. I suppose that suggests that she'd
hardly notice that this particular pin was missing. On the other
hand, there's a good chance that she'd want precisely this pin,
and that she'd continue to search for it and ask about it for
weeks. |
| Another
earring, this one, judging from the "quality" of the
stones, rather definitely from a child's junk jewelry collection.
Is it strange that only a single member of a pair gets lost?
If we lose only one, do we miss it more because now we don't
have a pair, or do we miss it less because at least one is still
around? |
 |
 |
Though
the band of this bracelet seems to be no more than a piece of
thread (that probably took a beating in the wash), the pendant
itself seems to be of rather good quality. Perhaps this was
passed down to a daughter when it was no longer something that
her mother wanted. Though it doesn't look expensive, it was
probably a real piece of jewelry, and worn as such - perhaps
by a teenager.
I relate to lost (and found) objects with what I consider an
adult attitude, meaning that I allow objects to absorb sentimental
value, to take on meaning beyond their monetary value. Much
of this sentiment probably starts developing in our teens, but
I don't know whether a teenager would feel a greater or a lesser
sense of loss if she (or he) lost a bracelet like this one.
Attachment takes time. |
| A
small, but not particularly simple piece of LEGO - perhaps it
originally had wheels attached to it, perhaps it was part of
a special set. A piece such as this could get "lost", or at
least not be found, even when it's still inside a large box
of other LEGO pieces. I can imagine a child not knowing that
it's missing, suspecting the truth only after continually not
finding it. This is also the sort of item I can imagine myself
keeping in my pocket - for no particular reason except perhaps
that I found it, and found myself wondering about it. |
 |
|
|
All of what I've written here
is no more than conjecture. I don't really know whether my speculations
on these objects are the truth, nor whether I've accurately crawled into
the heads of the people who might have lost them. When I view them, however,
I somehow get a feeling of loneliness - as though these objects are alone
in the world, that they lack an anchor of belonging that gives them meaning
- a meaning they probably, even fleetingly, once had. Now, even if the objects
have been found, the meaning has been lost.
|
