Why do people buy crap?

I often think about shows where the premise is post-apocalyptic; how nothing material matters anymore except survival tools, and how honestly none of our shit is worth anything, except maybe sentimental value and things we use.

I don't begrudge people collecting things; I used to do it too, thinking I'd like it. Turns out I just didn't. I'm not better than a person who likes to collect, just different.

I would never, however, be interested in watching any of those hoarders shows. it is just beyond my comprehension.

ldent42 said:

PJ_Soul said:

ldent42 said:

I don't know how to drive.

Why is that weird?

Well weird might be a bad choice of words, but I figure it's a skill one should have (even if they never use it) for safety's sake. What if there is an emergency and you HAVE to drive? That's what would worry me.
But nevertheless, good for you for not having a gas guzzler.

You figure like if there's an earthquake and the ground is splitting in half really quickly and the only way to outrun it is by getting in a car on an empty stretch of road? I mean I'm pretty sure I could figure it out in those circumstances. Right pedal means go right? I mean for actual emergencies, it's not exactly rocket science.

Gotta understand too, I live on an island. I ain't going nowhere in a hurry in the event of some kind of evacuation. If it ever comes to that I'd have better luck on foot or by boat. I mean even during the Blackout that was demonstrated pretty well.

No, I was thinking more along the lines of you being somewhere with a person who drove, that person becomes unable to drive and you need to help them. This isn't an uncommon scenario, really. It actually happened to my mom last year. She fell off her bike and shattered her right elbow. There were no other people around, and her phone was out of juice (other common scenarios might be car accidents, phone is broken, no signal, etc etc). Unfortunately, she was with my 8 year old nephew, so him driving her home or to a hospital was out of the question. She actually had to drive a stick shift herself, despite the fact that it was so painful she almost passed out. It was actually very dangerous. But with a little kid, no choice. Just imagine, though, if that had been an adult who didn't know how to drive with her instead. How useless would that adult feel if they couldn't get her to help?? That is why I think all adults should know how to drive (and not just an automatic! You can't just make it up as you go along if it's a stick shift). Just in case. But yeah, maybe paranoid. It just seems like a skill everyone should have, right along with swimming and riding a bike, IMHO. Using the skill, however, not at all! The more people who arrange their lives so they don't need a car the better.

PJ_Soul said:

brianlux said:

^^^ I agree with you both about the clutter issue. Having my own book business and being remarried 10 plus years I can't/wouldn't go back to this but regarding stuff, I was most happy when I could put everything I owned including my bicycle in my old Dodge van. Not that being "tied down" doesn't have it's wonderful perks, but it was nice being "free as a bird".

I also hate clutter. My rule is that if I haven't used it within the past year (excluding things like tools and other shit that you kind of need to have around just in case), I get rid of it. This has lead me to almost be a minimalist, and I love it. No CRAP to deal with. Everything is tidy, no stuffed closets or cupboards or anything like that. Just the things I actually need and use. A simple life is a happy life IMHO.

something I once read by a home organization "expert" is that the rule of thumb is 6 months and pitch it (save for annual decorations, and tools like you mentioned, etc). I am going to try to do this. And soon. With my daughters, much bigger task.

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:

^^^
This is all good advice.
I regularly de-clutter, sometimes six months is too long.
Any dollar store stuff I buy only last a few days anyway so I am good there.
I enjoy throwing garbage out of the house.

HFD - To your earlier comment about not being able to watch the Hoarders show. It is very hard to watch because you can't believe that it is real. Once you watch one episode you will forever be scanning your home for shit to throw out, ha.

I find hoarders weird because it's so difficult to believe that a lot of that behaviour is anything other than extreme laziness. I suppose I understand the compulsive issue of feeling way too much of an attachment to items and feeling an extreme anxiety about getting rid of them, but I can't wrap my mind around the fact that most of them also refuse to ever even clean anything, and live in cat shit, dog shit, their own bags of shit, and with rotting piles of food, never cleaning a single surface or window or anything else. That makes no sense to me even if they are hoarders.

I mean it's a psychological condition. I'm not so sure why that's hard to understand, but then again I have seen the show.

I don't shop, shopping as entertainment is just sad. Trying to fill the holes in your life by buying shit you don't even care about, convincing yourself you do care, its just pathetic.
Instead of going to buy something, GO DO SOMETHING!

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:

rgambs said:

I don't shop, shopping as entertainment is just sad. Trying to fill the holes in your life by buying shit you don't even care about, convincing yourself you do care, its just pathetic.
Instead of going to buy something, GO DO SOMETHING!

I buy Pearl Jam stuff.

I buy bootlegs from the shows I attend and a few that are really good. The rest is just stuff. I'm not into stuff.

brianlux said:

I buy used records, CDs, DVD's and books whenever possible because to me music and books are very nearly as important to me as food, water and shelter. But I also do occasionally buy new books and music- not often but when I do I cringe a bit. The only thing I can say to that is that I take as good a care of them as possible, always look for quality or restorable (why won't my spell check fix that word?) and buy used when possible. But all used items were new once, right?

Everything old is new again.

Or not. Whatever - that song came to mind

I guess our levels of importance placed on certain things varies. Figure when we care, we compensate in other ways.