“The advantage of being messy is that you have nice surprises in store”

School holidays and May holidays are often the occasion for major spring cleanings. Spring “tidyers” generally start their work in euphoria and quickly abandon it, like the Monopoly boards left in place as children, promising themselves that we will resume the game tomorrow, before confessing a few days later. late that it is finished.

How do we recognize them?

They always start with the same desk and the same cupboards. They make little piles all over the living room. They take all the cables and chargers out of the dedicated drawer and make an even bigger pile with those lying around elsewhere, and promise to sort it. They leave bags in the entrance “to give away” and “to take down to the cellar”. This feeling of having to do a lot of work completely overwhelms them. They contemplate their past with every metro card, running bib, pill prescription they come across. They religiously put the “bank statements” file back in the cupboard, forgetting that they have been receiving them by email for two years.

They have a wallet in which they put all the foreign coins in bulk for the day they return to the countries in question. They take photos of children’s clothes that are too small and send them to friends, asking: “Are your children interested?” » They sort out medications with expired dates. They say that given the drug shortages in recent years, it is better to keep the expired ones. They remember friends coming over for dinner and quickly making a big pile out of all the little piles lying around. They put all the cables and chargers back in a box larger than the drawer. They receive messages on WhatsApp saying that their treasures do not interest their friends because they do not match their children’s style. They keep the bags “to donate” and “to go down to the cellar” for several months. Instead of having clutter in the cupboards, they now have bags in the hall. They end up putting them back in a cupboard one day when they have guests over.

How they speak

“The advantage of being messy is that you have nice surprises in store. » “I think I threw the cover with the family record book in the yellow trash can. » “No, don’t sit there, it’s the insurance papers, on that chair. » “I envy people who throw away. » “Next year, we’re not buying stationery with everything I just found. » “Actually, I had a garlic press…” “Do you know many people who want to tidy up when the weather is nice? »

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