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By mess I mean the clutter, the excessive trinkets, the papers, bottles, cans, bags, clothes, shoes and whatever else you can imagine, that are strewn all over the place. These things are tossed on the floor, crammed into the corners of a room, stacked on chairs and scattered across tables. While we’re on the subject let’s not talk about opening a garage door and being confronted with a wall of stuff that would make a hoarder’s home look like a palace. And yes, I’ve been inside a few of those places too, and trust me, it’s nothing pretty.
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I tend to be, more or less, someone who believes in that adage, it’s better to have fewer, better quality items that cost more, than to have more, less quality items that are cheaper. It’s those inexpensive things that end up falling apart quickly, tossed aside and ultimately find their way into a landfill. And in case you haven’t noticed those garbage dumps are only getting larger and larger.
Then there are those few items, whether planned or not, that stay with us for a very longtime. It got me to thinking about some of the things around my home that I’ve had, and have continued to use, for an untold number of years.
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For starters my truck is approaching the age of ten and with nearly one hundred fifty thousand miles I’ve managed to keep it running. It begs the question, how much longer will it last? I’m not sure, but I’m hoping at least a couple of more years.
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Then there are a few dress shirts that are fifteen or so years old. They’ve probably lasted this long because I’ve kept them on a hanger and rarely do I get the chance to wear them (work uniforms take care of that). Speaking of which, when I first hired into my paramedic role I was given a used leather belt that I continue to wear twenty one years later.
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I have a desk lamp that’s been with me for about twenty five years and I have no intention of getting rid of it. Then there are some of my dad’s tools that have probably been around before I was even born; such things as a circular saw, that I just used the other day, and some metal clamps that still do what they were designed to do. And for various yard projects, I have my grandpa’s coal shovel that had to have been made sometime in the 1920s.
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Yet, the one thing that takes the prize for not only being used on a daily basis, but has been around for a very longtime, is a hairbrush. Yes, you read that right, a hairbrush. It’s not very big and the handle has been broken for as long as I can remember. I believe it was something my mom had thrown into my Christmas stocking way back in my early teens. I’m not going to say how long ago because, as you might guess, that would give you a clue as to my age (I’ll let you keep guessing in case you don’t know). Suffice it to say it has travelled with me just about everywhere I’ve gone and yes, I know what you’re thinking, I do keep it clean. It’s not like I have a lot of hair to brush anyway and as you can tell by my pics, I like to keep my hair short. The bristles are still functional and after using it I toss it back into the cabinet without giving it much thought.
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I find it disappointing that objects, more often than not, are designed to fall apart because that in turn forces a consumer to purchase a new one. It’s these broken objects that find their way into the environment or a garbage dump and I have a tendency to want to protect the planet from unnecessary pollution and trash.
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I’m sure that you too, have something lying around that has been with you for a longtime, but also is frequently used without giving it a second thought. If you do, then let me know by sending me a reply or a picture of that unsung hero of an object.
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I still believe that majority of us want to be in this together, let’s not be too close together while we’re all in it.