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November
Collectors
Look around you. Do you need everything you see in
your residence? Or are you a packrat collector of
things you are going to leave to your
grandchildren, who will probably just throw them
away anyhow. Maybe you look around and call it a
hobby, all those knick-knacks, 78 rpm records
(remember those, where’s the turntable?) and
yesterdays and months of newspapers and magazines
that are irreplaceable memories of times past, and
take up so much room you must watch the TV in the
kitchen while eating over the sink. Think about it.
It could even be said that collecting is in itself
a crazy activity.
Why would any rational person want to have a
bunch of stamps sitting around that are never going
to be of any use? Well, some who study human
behavior speculate that collecting is a modern
expression of our ancient instinct as
hunter-gatherers, to hunt and gather and collect.
Do you feel that old, or are you a throw-back
retiree to the cave ages? Look around your place
and decide.
Some things you need to collect like cash,
trash, the mail, and empty bottles and dirty dishes
off the kitchen table, but maybe not belly-button
lint from the ages, your youth until now.
One person’s junk is another person’s
treasure. You’ve heard it all before. Be
careful how you define junk. Some say it is
discarded things, or things regarded as worthless
or causing clutter, or cheap and poorly made goods:
or something to seriously think about, secondhand
goods offered for sale. Have you been to a state or
county or local street fair lately and seen the
wares of collectors spread out on card tables? Have
you been to a yard/garage sale lately?
If you are a pack-rate hoarder of tons of junk
in the attic, the basement or the garage, like toy
trains, baseball cards or matchbox cars, fishing
lures or old postcards, there are places where
these items can be traded or sold. There are buyers
out there. There are, for real, clubs and
organizations that deal with many of these
‘treasures’ that mess up your home. There
are almost as many collectors as there are things
to collect. Why? People like to collect things.
That, you see, is the real reason they collect
stuff, because they love them. It matters not why,
if they even know why, it makes little difference
if these things are obsolete or ungainly or ugly,
that they cost far too much and take up a
ridiculous amount of space and serve absolutely no
practical purpose whatsoever. In love, as in
collecting, irrationality reigns supreme.
If you are one of these types, properly
organizing the stuff you call a collection has a
definition. It’s called housekeeping,
housework, or domestic science. After you have
completed one of these chores, you have to find out
what to do with your treasures. If you have some
time on your hands there are collector’s sites
on the web whose primary purpose is to provide free
information for collecting clubs, collectors and
the antiques, art and collectibles industry. For
example, search for cigarette lighter collectors,
or salt shaker collectors. You will be surprised.
Of course there is the ever popular eBay site that
has a bidding process where you can get rid of, or
sell, your items. Or, you can organize your own, or
a block group, yard sale. There are many out there
just like you.
©2009, Patrick
Kennedy
* * *
Man arrives as a novice at each age of his life.
- Nicolas Chamfort
Patrick
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