This is what we call the Garanimal² creation of an American. I could conceivably put together my own wardrobe of thought if I actually tried harder, but it’s so much easier — and fun — to match the little animals on the labels together and emerge with a complete outfit of ideas. Look! I’m a platypus!

One box held an ergonomic keyboard encrusted with the soda, crud, dust, and slime of several years. Two of his friends paused to gather around the box and poke at it with hangers. “He touches that thing?” one of them asked with mingled awe and disgust.

“Nature abhors a vacuum,” I pointed out.

Heisenburg sniffed. “Nature is a slob.”