The American Dream: a Packrat Society

We all know "them." Most of us, if we have the space, are "them." Nobody wakes up one day and says "I hope to be 50 with a house full of crap I don't use," but most of us get to that point anyhow. But why?

The Drepression Mentality

My great-grandmother is in her 90s, a product of the Great Depression sandwiched between two World Wars (she was born in 1913, if I remember correctly). As is true for many from that era, they were taught to save everything they had because you never knew how tight things could get. That makes sense. Until the economy changes.

For the most part, the past 60 years have been years of economic prosperity in the West. People went from one car to two, and expanded their carages to compensate. But let's be honest, how many of those homes have a car port filled with...stuff? How many of us have that third (or fourth) bedroom to store...stuff? Oh, you know, you might need it some day. Like the hockey sticks, for when you get around to buying ice skates again. Or (like me) the closet full of computer parts, in case you ever get to a point where you need an 8th CD-ROM drive. It's stupid. And it's preventing someone else from using it, especially if they NEED it.

One shirt, two shirts, red shirts, blue shirts

Sometime around December 31st, we'll rush down to Goodwill or The Salvation Army to drop off a bag of clothes for a tax write-off. It makes us feel good, we haul something out of the house, and Uncle Sam gives us a (very small) high five for our hard work. But it is pretty foolish, if you think about it.

We don't give our stuff to someone who needs it, we give it to someone who will sell it to them, or better yet, we treat those agencies like garage sales and turn right around and buy someone else's crap from them. Cost effective, perhaps, but if we didn't need those ten sweaters, why did we just buy 8 more and bring them home?

The truth is, we have taken the human contact out of helping, and sharing, and even loving. I have great respect for The Salvation Army et al, but they are misused by us in suburbia as much as they help out those who can't afford the mall. Better than nothing, for sure, but it still lacks the relational aspect.

Something-for-nothing, just a smile

Twoshirts.org is a relatively new website (1.5 years old, I think) that is premised on the "needs and wants" mentality. Post what you've got that you don't need. Or post a wish list of things you would like. Or do both. The site allows you to "claim" items that are available, and then guess what? You work with the person(s) to get/give the item. You're working with people!

It works best with many people using it in a geographic location, so go check it out. You can get rid of the extra stuff in your house and make sure it gets into the hands of people who will use it or, better yet, need it. And who knows? You might not need to buy the house with the garage for the second car.