There’s an ancient question that humans have asked themselves since they first left the caves and moved into their new mud and brick huts somewhere in Mesopotamia; why do we collect so much stuff? It’s not easy to answer and it may have much to do with ancient instinct, but it isn’t really that bad. It’s more of a curiosity these days than anything else.
Consider that old rotisserie oven that we got at our wedding reception years ago. We bought a new one a couple years back in the old one went down into the basement on the theory that we might need that second oven should the Apocalypse occur and the four Horsemen need a quick meal or some hospitality, right?
But the truth of the matter is we really don’t have much of an idea of why we’re holding on to that of an other than we don’t know what else we can do with it and it’s also true that even if the Apocalypse were to descend upon us we certainly wouldn’t want to waste time cooking food for much of anybody. Running the other way fairly quickly, or reselling that stuff at a garage sale, would be the preferred options.
At any rate, we can probably make quite a bit of money from many items that we’re no longer using, including the Hamilton Beach food processor that we replaced with a new Hamilton Beach product sometime ago. Why it’s down in the basement gathering dust we cannot say, but with all the kids gone and only us two in the home, needing two food processors probably isn’t really something that’s going to pop up, right?
And what’s the deal with that wireless baby monitor? The last time it was used, Knight Rider was still the big show on non-cable television and disco was just fading out. Unless it holds some sort of sentimental value, it might be a good idea to consign that monitor or to at least give it away to a young couple who might be able to put it to good use.
The truth of the matter is that we can usually give no good reason for why we hold onto many of the things we’ve accumulated over the years, including the old trampoline that we bought on a whim at some other garage sale. It’s a fact that the only people who might want to use it have grown up and moved away to college, so maybe it might be smart to give it to some other children, what do you think?
The answer to why we collect so much stuff is probably buried deep within each of us and is far easier to speculate on than to actually answer. But maybe it’s just because we’ve never gotten around to finally getting up and selling it off or giving it away to others who can use it. Besides, it’s a fair bet that any survivors of the Apocalypse aren’t going to want rotisserie chicken anytime soon.
