Stuff

"He, who dies with the most toys, wins."

Watching "American Pickers" it becomes overwhelming clear that our current American society is obsessed with stuff (I know why it is called that) ... old signs, toys, ,antique cars, posters, sports memorabilia, bikes, electronics, dolls, ephemera, motorcycles, vintage appliances, architectural salvage, tsotchkes, old furniture, etc., etc. Frank and Mike crawl through huge piles of cast-offs searching for "rusty gold" among all this junk. Watching these two men often pay up for trash leads me to believe that their show makes their money on advertising and not on their resale trading, I have been to their store in Nashville and never saw a displayed item being purchased. Besides who wants to buy a cracked plastic car with no wheels?

To me the saddest part of this TV series is to see a "collector" who has grown too old or died and his or her collection is now overwhelming others and needs to be disposed of. The Pickers  over-paying for a few items of their amassed trash never solves anything. There still remains stacks of maudlin memorabilia. (I am reminded of the hermit who died when his huge piles of old newspapers fell over and crushed him.) So think three times before buying that special pot to cook asparagus or that neato knife to devein shrimp. Make do with what you have.

The lesson, dear children, is never fall in love with objects ... stuff is a cruel lover.

Afterward: You don't own a lot of stuff ... a lot of stuff owns you!