I Was Thinking... Too Much Stuff

“The Right Stuff” was a great movie about the test pilots that eventually became our first astronauts. But for most of us, “the right stuff” is what we thought we needed at one time and we bought it. It may have been that perfect collectable beer mug, the pair of shoes that went with that one dress, a tool you just couldn’t do without or a kitchen appliance that was a fad for a while. It may have seemed to be the really necessary stuff at one time, but...
How many houses still have a fondue pot in some cabinet, a bread maker that hasn’t been used in years or a blender that just takes up space in the cupboard? Is there still a baby stroller, highchair, or playpen in the basement, attic, or rafters in the garage, even if your baby is now 38 years old?
If you dig around in a closet, can you find a slide projector, an old video camera, or a VCR? When you explore the very back of your closet, can you find a tie dye shirt, bell bottom pants, a flowered dress, a patterned sports jacket, ponchos, or even a pant suit that hasn’t been worn since Reagan was President?
Are there clothes that you keep because you will wear them again once you lose that extra weight? Did you once collect shot glasses, baseball caps, souvenir spoons, tea pots, political pins, or antique tools?
Do you have a hard time counting the number of hammers, pliers, screw drivers, or paint brushes you own? Do you probably have enough scrap lumber, pails of nails, and other construction materials to build a small house?
If you can identify yourself in any of these, you are a typical American. Somehow, most of us have a tendency of buying and then keeping too much stuff.
When we moved into our house over 40 years ago, we had plenty of room. Since that time, we’ve added a garage, a storage shed, and put an addition on to the house. Logic would tell you that we have more space now than ever before.
But the truth is, you accumulate as much stuff as you have space to store it. It is probably also an example of an affluent society. We are taught to consume, and if we have the resources, we do just that, whether we really need it or not.
One of the most common structures popping up in all of our communities is something called “storage facilities.”
When we run out of space to store all our stuff at home, we look for another place to put those things we just can’t part with. So, we rent somebody else’s space to keep our stuff.
I’ve known people who have moved three times and not ever unpacked some of the boxes they moved. While the boxes must not contain anything important enough to unpack and use, they still seem to have enough perceived value to keep moving them from place to place.
A good business plan is to identify a need and then provide a service to meet that need. In addition to the “storage buildings,” other innovators have offered a service that promises the homeowners to get rid of their junk.
If we can’t bear to part with our valued junk ourselves, maybe we can hire someone to do it for us. These people don’t have the emotional attachment to the stuff and can dispose of grandma’s antique rocker, my old letter jacket, or our baby’s favorite blanket without feeling guilty.
But until we are brave enough to hire them, maybe we could just rent one more storage unit.
Did You Ever Wonder? — Why do we call it a TV set when there is only one?