Stuff & Nonsense

Saturday nite.....Justin Other Smith

Everyone has stuff....and everyone wants more stuff. We fill our homes with stuff. We put so much stuff in our garage that the car must of necessity be left out in the cold. (Figuratively speaking, of course.)
Stuff is such an important part of peoples everyday life that storage units have become big business all across our fair land. When we run out of space at home, we simply rent a storage unit. Or multiple storage units.
Miser and hoarders who fill their homes with old newspapers and magazines are mocked by the news media. Often their stuff is taken away to be archived in the nearest landfill. Often, they themselves are taken away to be archived as well. Of course, they are extremists and not to be confused with the rest of us who merely collect stuff.
I once had a fellow collector explain his actions with the statement, “He who dies with the most toys, wins.”
Toys being the euphemism he favored for his collection of stuff. Cars, tools, whisky bottles, assorted camping gear, etcetera ad infinitum. Not to be confused with my personal collection of art, rare books, vintage photographs of long forgotten friends and family. Oh, and some childhood toys that I’ve managed to drag into my seventh decade.
Of course, I do get rid of stuff. I bundle it up and pass it on to various and sundry charities (and occasionally, the nearest landfill) And I’ve never had to resort to renting a storage unit to keep my spillover stuff.
On the other hand, and just to be completely honest, my house is kind’a full and I never go upstairs anymore and rarely into the basement. Not that I can’t go there. I could if I wanted to. But I’ve told the grandchildren that monsters live in the upstairs and ogres in the basement and I just try to set a good example for them by not going there.
“And how are you, Mr. Wilson?”