Assignment 21 - Thomas Noll

     For a large portion of my life I found myself unable to throw away garbage. It sounds trivial, nothing physical limited me. I wasn't a hoarder either, trash was trash, other people could throw it away behind my back and I would be thankful, but my mind could simply not stand to do it myself. I'm rather lucky that of all the obsessive compulsive disorders out there mine was so harmless, but one takes for granted just how much trash we come across on a daily basis. I would go about my day pockets bulging with paper scraps, disposable silverware became my worst nightmare. Yet, you cant keep banana peels in your closet, and you cant have a mental breakdown over parting ways with a plastic knife at the airport. My strange inconvenience became a fact of life. I learned the best way to maximize space for waste, for organics I got a compost bin. I worked hard to build mental exceptions, for example: "If the waitress touches it first, its technically not my trash, so I can throw it away." Everyday I avoided as many disposables as possible, and I brought the rest home for my poor mother to get rid of and hope I wouldn't randomly miss it. This is not an adversity I overcame, I had to grow out of it. However along the way it forced me to adapt to unideal circumstances in accepting ways. This experience and learned ability to adapt to any adverse situations has helped me deal with more serious tragedies than losing a straw wrapper, and remains the most valuable strategy in my life.