Driving through town, any town, I’m always struck by the number of storage units there are, and more being built. Do other countries do this and, if not, what do foreign visitors think about America when they look at something whose only purpose is to hold extra stuff?y day. There’s surely an unwritten rule that people like me marry people who hang onto everything. My dad didn’t need much and didn’t keep much. Mom kept everything and bought more, just in case. It’s been said that we grow up to be one of our parents and marry the other one.
I have more than I need, and it’s time to pass some of it on to people who could use it. To my mind, it’s selfish to keep things I haven’t worn or needed in a year or so, when there are plenty who go about in a too thin winter coat, and shoes with holes in them. I spent enough anger and resentment cleaning up after family members who died leaving a mess, and don’t want to put anyone else through that.
Some relatives recently spent a week going through thirty years-worth of “I might need this,” and still didn’t get it all sorted. Several friends, of a certain age, swear they aren’t going to bother clearing the basement or storage uni
It’s no secret that I’m inclined to dispose of anything not in immediate use. Occasionally I wish I’d kept this or that, but it doesn’t happen often, and it’s never ruined mt out. “My kids can do that when I’m gone.” Others say “I need to get rid of a lot of stuff; it’s silly to keep what my kids don’t want; they have their own things.” And they’ve been saying it for years, decades, even.
It’s likely that these are the same people who argued endlessly with teenagers about wet towels on the floor and dirty clothes under the bed. They probably can’t count the times they’ve said, “Clean up after yourself.”
It’s not just clothing and household goods that get left to deteriorate and clutter. Driving in the country, you’ll see old barns and abandoned houses with weeds taking over and roofs falling in. In rural towns, there are invariably schools or churches that are no longer being used, but they were built to last, with brick or stone. As populations decrease, these become an eyesore, and detriment to the community. If they had been built of other material, they might have been moved elsewhere and put to use. We take it for granted that we’ll always have the same needs and that future generations will have similar tastes.
It about broke the bank this summer when I had the house I grew up in demolished, but it had become unlivable, and when torn down, we found the cement block walls were full of snakes. I’m still getting used to not seeing it across the yard, and deciding what I can afford to not do on the ranch because of the expense involved in clean up. But it would have been unfair to family to let it stand empty and become a haven for more varmints.
My message this week is simple. Clean up after yourself. Especially if you want to be remembered fondly.
Meet me here next week, and meanwhile, do your best. Somebody might like it.