Stuff

I look into my neighbors back yard and I see "stuff".  An empty hot tub sitting on the patio with all the ambiance of an armpit.  I see a barbque, and bunch of lawn mowers, some quad like vehicles, a basket ball net, a bunch of miscellaneous ugly looking equipment.  They have a huge oversized double garage and a extra large shed in the back stuffed to the rafters and yet the stuff still overflows into the yard.  The majority of the stuff I mentioned never gets touched as they are never home to use any of it. 

He also has trucks, every kind of truck possible.  His wife and teenage kid have different colors of the same brand new Chrysler 300.  He has a massive loud Harley and other manly toys.  Then the other day he drove up in a camper. Not a normal camper, it was literally the size of a greyhound bus...I am not exaggerating!  This is the profile of the rich blue collar guy in Alberta today.

He is not unique, you see it everywhere.  People that can't get enough of buying things.  Some can afford them, most cannot, but don't stand between people and their god given right to acquire stuff.  There is a new show on TV coming called "Pack Rats".  I think this is the step you hit before "hoarders".  I have come to the realization that I definatley don't posses this gene.   I hate having extra crap laying around and I have very little emotion attached to stuff.  Sure there are the few sentimental things, but most of the things I cherish are memories in my head and the people and animals that I love. 

I am not saying I don't have any stuff, everyone does.  But I think long and hard about what I really need/want and if it will somehow add value to my life.  Sure I can afford a fair amount of stuff, but for what purpose?  To have it laying around like my neighbor?  To show off to people that I can afford nice stuff?  I could care less if I keep up to the Jones-es - chances are the Jones-es have credit card debt up the ying yang. 

I watch shows like Till Debt Do Us Part and see people that make a hobby out of acquiring stuff.  One girl actually had 78 pairs of jeans.  Yes....think about that.  78 x $75/pair = $5,850 in Jeans!!  Then she actually started to cry on her bed like a little girl when they were going to make her sell most of them. WTF is this world coming to??? 

People need to smarten up and get a grip on what is important in life. Health, love, family, friends, experiences...none of these things are made of plastic, metal or electronics.  People are bankrupting themselves buying shit they don't need because they feel an enormous sense of entitlement.  It is no wonder the U.S. is in such a predicament and we would not be much better in Canada if we didn't have regulations to save us from ourselves.

So dear neighbor, I will continue to plant trees, put up my trellis, whatever necessary so I don't have to look at your abandoned crap.  Keep working 7 days a weeks so you can buy more stuff..after all, that is what life is all about ...right??