Crap addiction

posted by Jeff | Tuesday, March 19, 2013, 10:58 PM | comments: 0

One of the things that comes up periodically on CoasterBuzz and PointBuzz is the issue of stowing your crap in a box on a ride platform. Operationally, this tends to slow things down, if only by a few seconds, but potentially more. My issue is more around why people need to carry loads of crap around with them all day in the first place.

Sure, if you're a parent, I get it, but in those cases you also likely have a stroller, and someone is going to be sitting out on riding. But eventually you learn how to travel lighter, with the bare minimum. I'm pretty proud about how we roll these days. Diana carries a diaper or two and a few wipes in her purse. We no longer try to anticipate what he needs at any given instant, and expect him to adapt. Heck, on our cruise, we had one large suitcase, and a small carry-on a piece.

But in these discussions, I'm not even talking about parents, it's often single adults. The discussions usually split into two camps. The first insists on places to stow whatever it is they're convinced they need, and the second is the keys, credit card, cash and phone crowd. Both groups are human beings, so why does the former "need" all this stuff? Presumably there's some kind of psychology behind it, but I can't relate to it.

I hate being encumbered with stuff. I can barely deal with the bulk of a winter coat most days. When I'm doing some kind of leisure activity, strip me down to as little as possible. That's one of the things I love about a Disney trip, that I can literally carry nothing but room key and an ID (for alcohol purchase), and my phone (so I can Facebook photos of alcohol purchases).

I'm often reminded of the secretary at my first job. She was a bit older, and I think she might have been a hoarder, before we had reality TV shows to explain what a hoarder was. While I showed up to work with nothing but my keys and my wallet (this was before normal people had cell phones), she showed up to work with one of those wheeled wire carts that people used to bring home groceries in when they walked from the store. I couldn't even tell you what she had in there, but it ended up in massive piles under her desk. She said she "might need" whatever she brought.

For a more modern day example, there's Steve Wozniak's backpack. What the hell? I can't understand why anyone needs that many electronic devices.

Again, maybe there's something chemical going on, and people simply can't choose to go into the world without mounds of crap. Maybe it was because I moved three times in two years, but I have purged a whole lot of crap, and I'm sure there's more to lose. I'm not saying that one has to abandon all things, but there comes a point where you have to ask yourself if something really enhances your life, or weighs you down.


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