Speaking of destruction.

Anecdotes are the lowest form of conversation, as the French say,
but I have one for this slow Friday afternoon.

I was on a tour of the Kodak film-processing plant in Chicago,
in 1958, with the local group of Caltech alumni.

In one large room, dozens of highly skilled and amazingly deft
workers (all female) were taking rolls of exposed slide film out of
their little metal cans and threading them for chemical processing.
The used cans were collected in barrels, each barrel
containing hundreds of the little metal cans.

We were told that, before the cans were dumped,
oil was poured on them, to render them valueless.

One of the men on the tour sighed and said,
"Ah ... the American economy!"

I am afraid that I have forgotten the explanation
that was given for this.  Does anyone know it?
I don't mean does anyone want to guess,
but does anyone know from direct experience
with this or a similar situation?

Martin C. Tangora