#3: Pacifier

This baby pacifier was found in the city centre. It is a plain design with three basic colors: yellow, red and blue. The rubber part is the standard color of medical sterile rubber. This is another accidentally discarded object, though this time the baby is solely responsible. An Italian family of three visited Ljubljana as tourists and were taking a walk through the old city centre, admiring the narrow streets and cramped buildings, that follow the flow of the river next to it. The father was carrying the baby on his shoulder when she fell asleep. Tired from a whole day’s journey, the baby did not feel like crying, when her pacifier fell from her mouth, so the family did not even notice its disappearance. The man walking behind them did not speak Italian and figured that they would likely throw the pacifier away anyway, after having it on the ground, so he did not bother to pick it up and return it. Later in the day, the family went into a store and bought a nearly identical one for a very small amount of money.

#2: Plastic dinosaur

This small plastic toy was given to me by a friend, who did not disclose the location of the finding. The species of dinosaur is likely fictional, though it bears a strong resemblance to an iguanodon. It lacks the typical thumbs of an iguanodon and the coloring is also incorrect. This toy used to belong to a child; his aunt found it at her home, and thought it would make good entertainment for her sister’s son. While hurrying to the store to buy some last minute groceries, the child’s mother pushed a stroller with him inside. He was playing with two dinosaurs (that were not made in the same scale, which looked odd) when the stroller hit a bump and this one fell from his hand onto the sidewalk. The mother was in a hurry and the child did not care for the toy very much, so they both chose to ignore it and continue with their more pressing engagements.

#1: Christmas tree decoration

Found in Poljane district, near a trashcan. This plastic spherical decoration has a reflective surface and is tinted red. The silver plastic top has a rusted metal ring attached to it, with a red string tied on at the end. The family that threw it out was tired of the same decorations every year, so they decided it was time to buy new ones. This particular red sphere was just too ordinary to keep. Compared to the new multi-colored Christmas lights and modern decorations, the red ball would have looked antiquated and clichéd. It saw its last use on Christmas 2008, but was, even then, already disliked and looked upon with a certain pity and contempt. The father wanted to keep it to save money, but the mother and the children wanted something new and fashionable. It was the discarded with a box full of similar items. This red sphere managed to miss the dumpster and roll away, while another decoration that missed – a disco-ball patterned Christmas tree sphere – wound up crushed on the sidewalk by a passer-by. He didn’t notice.