I regret cutting them. They held me up. They cost nothing–or at least nothing I could readily see. Oh, sure, people always warn about the dangers them knotting around your neck, slowly, in time. The major cause of death, they say. But there are pills you can take, I’ve heard that makes you less aware of your new freedom. Although they have side effects like constipation, blurred vision and nostalgic foragings for anything from Velveeta to old episodes of Police Woman.  So what to do with the actual strings–for they are hardly ever biodegradable. Depending on your genetics, the average number of strings is five. There are gig industries that have cropped recently up about how to repurprose them. Too many to name here.

I personally like to use mine to wrap presents with. My strips happened to be wide, colorful and tapered–a rare gene, I’m told. But I always ask for the strings back, after the presents are opened. Just in case I need them.