In last week’s column I mentioned that
I am “neatness impaired,” and I’m most comfortable when my office has stacks of
old newspapers, magazines, and books scattered around the room.
Despite my proclivity for accumulating
reading material, I recently discovered I am part of the modern “throwaway culture.”
I’m quick to throw away anything, as long as it does not have printed words on
it. Eventually I toss the reading material, too — usually right after the Fire
Marshall finishes his inspection of my basement office and orders me to dispose
of a ton or two of old newspapers.
Earlier this summer my siblings and I
rented a couple of Dumpsters to help our parents de-clutter their home. They’ve
been in the same house for over 50 years, and being patriotic American
consumers, quite a bit of stuff had accumulated during that time.
My dad was born during the Great
Depression and was in high school when World War II ended. So his formative
years were during an era of severe deprivation and sacrifice. Back then people often
were forced to feed a family of six for an entire week with a single potato and
one chicken leg. And if at least three siblings did not wear the same pair of
hand-me-down shoes, then you just were not trying hard enough to win the war. Back
in those days, people rarely threw anything away.
On the other hand, I was born during
the 1950s, the era of peace and prosperity and rampant consumerism. There’s an
old expression, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Well, my motto was, “If it
ain’t broke, you’re probably bored with it by now, so go buy a new one anyway.”
Starting in the 1950s and ‘60s, the
concept of “planned obsolescence” was incorporated into the design of consumer
goods, so most likely it was indeed broken, and you had to go out and buy a new
one. Taking the time to repair something was simply not an option. Instead, you
hopped into the Plymouth station wagon with wood paneling, drove down to Sears
or Bradlees, and bought a new thing. Nowadays, you don’t have to look for the
keys to the Plymouth or even put on pants. You just order the item online and
wait for the UPS guy to deliver it.
While de-cluttering our parents’ home,
my dad would see me dragging something to the Dumpster, and he’d say, “What are
you doing?” And I’d reply, “Throwing away this piece of junk.” And he’d say,
“That’s not junk. That’s valuable.” Then I’d say, “You don’t even know what it
is.” And he’d reply, “That doesn’t matter. It’s still valuable.”
During the cleaning process there were
multiple skirmishes in this clash of generational cultures. The throwaway culture
Baby Boomer (me) wanted to drag anything not moving to the Dumpster, while the
Depression/World War II survivor (Dad) cringed at the idea of tossing out
anything that might be useful one of these days.
I repeatedly made the same statement:
“If it turns out you need this thing someday, we’ll just buy a new one.” That
made perfectly good sense to me, but to my dad that statement was about as
insane as someone saying, “Who cares if the Red Sox win or lose?”
Convinced that I was right, I ignored
my dad’s pleas and continued to throw item after item into the Dumpster. But
maybe he was right and I was getting a little carried away. After a couple of
hours, I heard muffled sounds coming from the Dumpster. I looked in, and quite
surprised, I said, “Mom! What are you doing in there? Let me help you out.”
ReplyDeleteIf you're at all interested in knowing . . . the Catholic Dogma . . . that we *must believe* to get to Heaven, and which you have *never* seen . . .
I list it on my website > > www.Gods-Catholic-Dogma.com
> > Abjuration of heresy to enter the Catholic Church > www.Gods-Catholic-Dogma.com/section_19.1.html
The Catholic God knows . . . what we think and believe . . .
Catholic writing of Romans 1:21 >
"They ... became vain in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened."
Catholic Faith (pre-fulfillment) writing of Deuteronomy 31:21 >
"For I know their thoughts, and what they are about to do this day."
Catholic Faith (pre-fulfillment) writing of Job 21:27 >
"Surely I know your thoughts, and your unjust judgments against Me."
The group that calls itself "islam" ... is not a religion. Fully proven by the fact that the "koran" says the *opposite* of the Old Testament Prophets > Section 113.1 of the site.
i read your columns every week and i have to tell you the last two were my favorites.
ReplyDelete