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Jan 22, 2010
Stories of filling in the blank. A man finds himself in a train station in India, with no idea how he got there or who he is. His memory gone, he has no choice but to let other people—police, doctors, friends, family—create an identity for him.
In another story, people bid blind on the contents of abandoned storage units up for auction. (One tip: If you see large bags, go low; it's someone's old clothes.)
- If you don't pay the rent on a self storage unit, eventually all of your stuff can go up for auction. But the people bidding aren't allowed to dig around. They just peer in from the outside with flashlights, guessing where there are valuables. Jon Mooallem visited auctions in Northern California, and learned the surprising techniques people use to tell junk from treasure. Jon writes for The New York Times Magazine. (16 minutes)
