Stuff

One of George Carlin’s best routines was about “stuff” and how people move it, store it, and accumulate it.  Here's a link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvgN5gCuLac

I thought about stuff when I went to CVS the other day to get a few things.  It sure has a lot of stuff.  Aisles for tooth care, skin care, pain relief, diarrhea and feminine care among other stuffs.  The list is almost endless.

How did people in my state of Missouri exist a century and a half ago without so much stuff?  They probably knew that the more stuff you accumulate, the harder it is to remember where each item is!  As Carlin points out, sometimes you must move to get a bigger place to live because you have too much stuff.  And there is a whole self-storage industry and TV show involving people who need to store excess stuff. I remember my father taking me to the Philadelphia airport in 1966 with his old army trunk and one suitcase for me to come to St. Louis for college.  He marveled, “You’ve got everything you own in those two things!”

Now it’s so different.  In terms of clothing, I’ve got stuff in the closet that’s waiting for me to lose twenty pounds. I’ve got old tools that I never use, including my father' manual Craftsman drill that was replaced when I bought newer, more convenient battery drills.  Even our two dogs have lots of stuff.  There are toys we’ve kept even after they've been ignored for some time, and around the house there are multiple doggy bowls and old leashes.  And how about all that stuff in the trunk of our cars? 

I’ve made a few raft trips down the Colorado River (with professional guides).  One thing that's great is that all the stuff you need or a week is in a small backpack.  Of course, the guides pack the cooking and bedding in the rafts, but even then, the flotilla does not have that much stuff.

 I’ve got to stop now.  I need to clean out my refrigerator, which is full of stuff, some of which I have no idea what it’s for and which has been there for a year.