The Backpack Press

February 25. 2015

It’s been a week now, so I want to take a moment to acknowledge my inspiration:
http://www.whitehouseblackshutters.com/40-bags-in-40-days-2015/

Today I bought boxes to cart out my books and the stuff from my linen chest. And I found a way to declutter some of my bathroom things too.

When I travel, I love to collect the little hotel bottles of shampoo, lotion, and conditioner. But they tend to languish at the bottom of this plastic box and I am less likely, over time, to ever use them. On the one hand, I hesitate to leave them in the hotel bathroom, but on the other, I tend not to use them.

I have a solution that I implemented today. Since I see lots of homeless and very poor people asking for handouts on the train, I want to do something – other than give out money, because I really can’t afford that. So I have started putting some of these little hotel lotions and shampoo and a granola bar in a Ziploc. That way, I feel like I can offer someone something without having it be money. I would imagine if I were in their situation and I had a dollar, I’d buy food. I would never buy shampoo.

Today, a woman on my train said she was homeless, and if anyone could give her a little something, she would be grateful – so I gave her one of my baggies. She stopped and looked right at me and said, “Oh my God, thank you so much.” And I knew I did something good.