Seeking an answer to the problem of superfluous stuff
Seeking an answer to the problem of superfluous stuff
By: Bill Mead
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Posted by editor Tue Nov 30, 1999 00:00:00 PST
Viewed 651 times
0 responses 0 comments It's been more than two years since we moved into our smaller home in Mountain Aire Estates and we still have a rented storage unit in Old Town that is crammed with things that won't fit into our new place. Frankly, I don't know how they ever fit into the old place even though it was larger. I think it's because we had a garage in Golden Hills whereas we have only a 10 by 12 foot backyard shed at the new place. Or maybe it's because we no longer can stand to live in the middle of a landfill.
My wife keeps saying we need to start “going through” the stuff in the storage unit. She's unable to explain how this will shrink the pile enough to move it into a smaller and cheaper unit. When pressed to define the meaning of “going through” it turns out that her real intention is to haul everything to our place in Mountain Aire.
Consequently I have issued a toothless directive that nothing will be brought to our new home unless she (a) proves that whatever she brings home is worthy of the space it will occupy and (b) is ready to forget about (a) because we don't have any space for anything more to occupy.
As you can see, we are faced with the ageless problem of squeezing ten pounds of you-know-what into a five pound sack. Yet the answer is so simple and so near at hand that I can't discuss this subject without getting mad. I agree we have a few things in storage that my wife shouldn't have to throw out. What hangs in the air is how we get to the point where the stuff she wants to save will fit into a smaller unit and how we get rid of the rest.
I have notified all of our kids, grandkids and other relatives that they have a limited time to pick up what they want. That limited time expired months ago and the response has been underwhelming. The next logical step is to invite savvy rummage operators from charitable groups to go over the debris and pick out whatever is salable. My wife bristles at this, predicting that she will lose some of the few things she wants to keep once her stuff has been pawed over by others. Not if she tags whatever she wants to keep, I tell her.
No matter how much logic I bring to bear, she is unwilling to agree to any strategy other than moving everything in the storage unit to the carport at Mountain Aire, creating a mess that would rightfully incite our tidy neighbors to violence.
Consequently I have decided to treat this issue with benign neglect. This means continuing to pay for the big storage unit, never going near the place again. It also means dumping the problem on our heirs which seems only right. Even though you think the worst of me, let me assure you I have never considered arson so don't suggest it.
Admitting I don't know everything, I have welcomed counseling as to how I should handle this junk eradication project. It hasn't been very helpful because it has all come from men who have no qualms about discarding anything they can't eat, drink, smoke or change an oil filter with. The few times the subject has come up in conversations with women, they tend to support my wife's ill-defined plan to “go through” everything. It's further proof that men talk to achieve a solution while women talk to feel better.
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