Philosophical Musings of a Book Nerd

As I was reading this book all I could think about was how as a kid my room tended to be quite messy (well, actually it wasn't as messy as some people that I have known) while my sister's room tended to be immaculate. Come to think of it when I started working I suddenly noticed that in the office the opposite ended up being true – the guy's desks tended to be immaculate and well ordered while the women's desks tended to be really messy. However, being a bit of a messy person myself (well, not really considering my house actually isn't all that bad) our main excuse for actually not tidying anything up is that we know where everything is. Anyway, I'm sure we can all picture a room like this:

However, I'm sure we have all walked past a house looking like this (or even been to visit a friend who lives in a house like this):

Mind you, when I pass a messy house I'm probably one of those people that don't see it as a messy house but rather as an opportunity to renovate, to increase the value, and then on sell it for a profit. I guess I happen to be one of those glass half full type of people, which in a way some messy people are, because even though their house, or their desk, is somewhat chaotic, there tends to be a method in their madness. Mind you, some people are messy not because they 'know where everything is' but rather because they are lazy. In fact I once lived with a guy like that, and the main reason that you can tell that this isn't somebody who sees order in chaos is because they don't actually know where anything is, and when you ask them to find something their response tends to be 'it's in there somewhere, I'll find I when I get around to it' (which usually never happens.

Anyway, as you have probably figured out, I'm sitting on a rather comfortable V-line train heading back home after a rather amazing weekend away with some friends. The problem was that getting the internet was quite difficult (and even I have a few problems uploading things because it was, well, incredibly slow). I did have the idea of doing a couple of other Mr Men books, but due to a rather packed day, and really slow internet connections (though while there was wi-fi at the camp, it was locked, and I'm not in the business of guessing passwords, even if the password happens to be 'guest') I had to settle for my journey home. However I mention that because if you were to look in my bag you would probably think that I'm also a Mr Messy.

Mind you, I have to admit that the book is a little harsh on Mr Messy, simply because he runs into a couple of guys – Neat & Tidy – who take it upon themselves to go back to Mr Messy's house and clean it all up, and then give Mr Messy a really good bath. Okay, he does end up coming out all clean, but I sometimes wonder how long Mr Messy will remain neat and tidy.

Actually, come to think of it, being neat and tidy can actually give people a sense of self-respect. In reality people don't like messy people, which is why you generally can't rock up at a job interview unshaven and wearing torn jeans. The funny thing is that once you have the job, then appearance isn't as importance as that first interview, though I doubt your employer will be all that impressed if you came in wearing torn jeans. However, even if somebody does come along to give your house a good clean, it doesn't take long for it is revert to it's former state.