Filing Cabinets

6/17/2014

I can already see you yawning!  Most of you will think that talking about filing cabinets could easily turn into a snooze fest.  

I'm not talking about cabinets in the office - because frankly they are boring. I'm talking about filing cabinets in your house.  Years and I do mean years ago, Jeff and I went to a local office supply store while we were still living in California.  We wanted a filing cabinet to hold all the necessary bits of paper, like income tax returns, Wills, stuff like that.

We bought a light yellow cabinet, which I thought was beautiful, as far as filing cabinets go.  I definitely- I didn't want the old office gray kind, after all this was going to be in the house.  Filing cabinets will never make a fashion statement, they are utilitarian and not something you will have sitting in the middle of your living room. But if you did, it would be a conversation starter!

When Jeff and I got married, I told him that I would handle the paperwork, a chore that I do well.  Perhaps it's because I'm just a tad OCD (ya think?).  My philosophy is that there is a place for everything, and that doesn't mean my kitchen counters!

I began making file folders and typed the labels on my typewriter, which by the way I still have.  I had folders for pay stubs, medical and utility bills, a folder for each car that we owned, and well you get the idea.  The problem with putting things in the filing cabinet is that once they're inside, purging isn't high on my list of things to do.  Eventually, the little yellow cabinet was fill - all four drawers.

Our next cabinet was a used office (gray) filing cabinet and this many years later, all of those four drawers are also full.  I have half a drawer devoted to all things relating to the plane, making it easy for Jeff to find needed documents without my help.

Jeff doesn't do any filing.  He leaves me a stack of processed paper, and it's my job to make sure that everything is filed properly.  You would assume, and you'd be wrong, that each drawer is alphabetized, and you'd be wrong.  Files have, over the years, have both been added and or removed.  I generally know wherever thing is, even if my filing system doesn't make any sense to anybody else.  

When Jeff needs to look at income tax returns from years past, for instance, he doesn't go looking on his own.  He leaves the searching and finding to me.  It's a system that has worked well for nearly 40 years, and there's no sense switching horses now.

Filing is not my most favorite thing to do, but once the chore is done, there is a feeling of satisfaction that every scrap of paper is properly put away.  Filing will never win me any kind of award, but I get real satisfaction every time I'm able to find Jeff "x" or "y" in one of the cabinets!

P