A fine line exists between worthless junk and valuable collectibles, as two people can view the exact same item in totally different ways. Likewise, some may believe that I have a lot of junk while I like to consider myself a millionaire in waiting. One of these days my Hulk Hogan action figure from 1986 is going to really pay off.
Admittedly, I have a small problem of parting with stuff; nothing severe as I can get rid of a cracked drinking glass, it serves no purpose, but not a 2005 ‘The Office’ wall calendar, which could eventually be worth a lot of money. And like in twenty years when my kids are watching it on TV-Land, won’t they be impressed when I pull out the calendar? I just can’t throw that type of memorable moment away.
I was perfectly secure in my ways, until recently watching an episode of the reality show ‘Hoarders’ on A&E. It details the cleaning out process of people’s houses which are totally filled to the brim with…stuff. There is hardly any room to walk, no place to sit and the breathing conditions are even often unbearable. The conditions are often beyond imagination, unfit for a mouse, not to mention a human. Never would I allow myself to get even close to that environment but I was frightened by relating to the perspective of the homeowner.
‘There’s good stuff in there. Don’t just throw that out,’ a woman yelled, of a box of stuff, dug out from under a mound of debris. She wiped the maggots and cockroaches off the books, which had probably never been read, and insisted they were as good as new.
The house of this particular woman, was so out of control, it contained numerous skeletons of her once beloved cats….Oh, so that’s what happened to Fluffy. A dead fly laying around is one thing, especially if it goes unnoticed, but a cat takes it to the extreme.
I may have a couple books, okay a couple dozen, that I haven’t read in ten years and probably won’t ever again, yet can’t get rid of. They are a part of who I am, and might need to reference someday.
Like the hoarders, I see the potential and worth in the items that I haven’t used in years. They just have A LOT more of them than I do. It’s not only the potential monetary value that leads me to keep things, but their usability. Never know when an object is going to be needed, usually soon after it gets thrown away. I have three empty shoeboxes in my bedroom, I may trip over them on occasion but is better than having to buy new shoes just for the box when I need something for storage about that size.
A holy and stained T-shirt and jeans aren’t trash, but good to keep for dirty jobs. Same as old gym shoes, I have a closet full. One of these days I’m going to be working very hard around the house but I’m waiting to acquire the perfect wardrobe first.
From my Sports Illustrated Swimsuit editions of the 90’s, with several of the best pictures cut out, to my mound of baseball cards, and G.I Joe figures such treasures will someday have me laughing all the way to the bank or on a future episode of ‘Hoarders.’
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