Sometimes I resent being tied down by physical possessions

The BBQ Pit
21

Hey, Gal: Don’t you be thinkin’ about gettin’ rid of your stuff. You have reached that certain age when a dowry might be appropriate at any time.
If you keep your belongings, maybe your ma won’t have to sell her coon dogs to get you married off.

Heard down at the Jiffy-Stop in Pelahatchie, M’sippi:
“Hey Bobby, that Jess, she’s got lots of cool things. Got her some CD’s and jewelry and an iron bedstead and a buncha’ books. Feller could do lots worse than windin’ up with her, I’ll tell ya’.”

“Yeah, Billy Joe, but whatcha’ gonna do with all them books?”

“Hell, Bobby; some of them new trailers come with book shelves already in ‘em. You get hooked up with that gal, you don’t have to go to the Goodwill and buy a buncha’ books to fill them shelves up. She’s already got 'em.”

“Damn, Billy Joe, you’re right. I never thought about it that-a-way. How much stuff you reckon she’s got?”

“At least a pickup load. Maybe two truckloads, iffin you don’t stack it right. Her mom’s got a good coondog too. Maybe the dog comes with the girl? Maybe?”

“I don’t know what to do, Billy Joe. Coondog or not, she’s lookin’ pretty good lately, after she got back from all them places up North. She learnt some stuff up there too. Last week when I was pickin’ up a new saw chain at the feed store she kept them folks in there laughin’ for a half-hour, tellin’ about all the funny things she seen up North.
Billy Joe, you ‘spect she’d see me, if I went callin’ on her?”

Cain’t hurt to try, Bobby. Iffin’ my first ex-wife wasn’t raisin’ so much hell about increasin’ the child support, I’d go callin’ on her myself. Girl that’s got all them* possessions* and can crack jokes and looks good too, hey! What’s to lose by tryin’?"

“Yeah, thanks, B.J. Guess I’ll clean up after work Friday and ease on over her way. Whatcha’ think she likes to do?”

“Take her out dancin’, Bobby. Girls like dancin’. The Wooden Nickle is gonna have a good country band playin’ this weekend. Take her dancin’.”

“B.J., you’re a real buddy. You can be best man when we get hitched up. But you can’t have none of the CD’s.”

                                                    ~~~~~

So see, M’sippi lass, all those THINGS of yours will come in handy one day soon. :wink:

22

I’m sure he’d answer that, but he can’t actually get to the computer right now…

23

I used to be able to throw everything I own in the back of my car and move halfway across the country.

Now I have a dozen teacups inherited from gramma, a beautiful inlaid dresser inherited from grampa, and the desk my other grampa built for me when I was in grade school. And the rug I bought in Tangier, the old hand-painted tin trays and fancy serving platters from the farm, and three plants from funerals.

If it was just “stuff” I could throw everything I own into the back of my car and move halfway across the country, but it’s not just “stuff” to me.

sigh

24

John Carter of Mars, that was some good writin’ there in post #21.

Not that I’ve ever met Mississippienne, so I’m hoping that there’s nothing that she would find offensive.

Anyway, I really enjoyed reading your post. Perhaps you could write some more: I’m particularly fond of honeybees, gold-panning, and Eastern European brides. :slight_smile:

[back on topic]
I’ve spent the last few years trying to pare down possessions. The Web has certainly helped me there; I used to have tons of reference materials, databooks, and newspaper clippings, now I just have hard drives with massive Dewey-Decimal-organized download directories. A scanner has really helped, too.

25

Careful! Don’t forget the first rule of the SDMB!

26

I’d like to experience being tied down by physical possessions so that I can contrast the two lifestyles and see which I prefer. Due to various circumstances in my life, I have lost almost everything that had any value to me from my early years. As an example, I’m slowly rebuilding my personal library for the fourth time.

I’d like to see what it’s like to live on a 100 acre estate with a six bedroom house and enough clothes where I could go for a month without doing laundry and have a change every day. I’d like to be able to walk into a room in that house designated as a library and have my books on shelves instead of in boxes stacked against a wall. I’d like a 50 inch plasma TV and all the trimmings. Etc.

Just for research purposes, mind you.

27

Clothahump, you’ve got a valid point there. My malaise could very well be caused by not having* enough * stuff! Or a big enough place to put it in. I would like to sign up if anyone needs volunteers to test this theory.

28

That’s “A”, as opposed to “The”.

I just thought how the OP reminded me of that scene. How he was just gonna leave it all behind, didn’t need any material possesions, except just…

Gotta admit, he would have looked weird toting a cast iron bed.

29

Tried it once.

Immediately out of high school – one month after graduation I was scheduled to leave for boot camp. My folks were in the middle of a divorce at the same time, so the future of my bedroom was in peril and I couldn’t just leave everything there like your typical college student.

I spent that June getting rid of everything I had in my life. Got rid of my TV, my Commodore 64 (and SX 64), stereo, loads of 70’s era electronic gadgets (my oscilloscope, some old CB radios, tons of resistors and capacitors, lots of TTL chips).

I set foot in Great Lakes Naval Training Center with the following:

Sneakers
Socks
Skivvies
Worn jeans
T-Shirt (“The Police”)
Belt
Shaving kit
Razor
Big can of shaving cream
Comb
Wallet

They promtly relieved me of my shaving cream (only 10oz and smaller was allowed for some reason) and my comb ("Put your hands on your heads… What do you feel? NOTHING! What do you need a comb for?)

That was an interesting separation between my civilian life and my military life. Total freedom from Stuff. Within a year I was already carting around about a carload of junk :(.

30

I defy you to find my 1960 World Book (less the “L” book), or my hardcover book version of the September 1966 Scientific American, which was all about computers, in any library.

Well, of course you’d find the magazine version, but that’s not the same.

31

Am I the only one disappointed to find no bondage tales whatsoever in this thread?

32

Possessions? Possessions? Nothing ties you down like a house. All the stuff for taking care of it, all the time spent taking care of it, all the stuff in it, all the stuff that gets crammed in the garage, all the stuff that the inlaws clear out of their garage and give to you to cram into your garage, and then kids come with all their crap, and it’s new crap every year, and…

Well, when I moved in, I cried.

33

I would guess those settlers would have given anything, the fire and the dog, to have a safe, stationary home where they could accumulate possessions. I mean, that’s why they were called "Settlers."

Should you be emotionally attached to your things? Of course not. If my house burned down tomorrow I’d happily roast marshmallows in the flames if my wife and cats were safely outside. But I have insurance. I can buy new things.

Oh, and I would. I am not married to my possessions, but having them is great. Tie me down? Pfffft.

34

I can identify pretty well with Mississippiennes whole idea. This subject has been one of the loudest occupations of my mind lately, not that I feel guilty for owning things. I’ve been trying to think of a rational way to quench that urge to be free. At first I was thinking along the lines of trying out (just for a little while) hopping a train and letting it take me somewhere. Also I’m attracted to the whole “Walden” thing Thoreau did.
Thank god I have a family and thus am forced to think (or act) in practical terms. Camping seems like a good middle ground.

It’s really a double edged sword. Obligation makes freedom look great and I guess the weather makes even a mud hut look alright once in awhile.

35

Thanks for the compliment! She’s not offended, she knows where I’m comin’ from. I’ve appointed myself to be her official SDMB big brother. Thus I can tease, make wise cracks and so forth and get away with it. If she’s ever actually ON a train that catches on fire, she knows she can call me and I’ll come in muh truck and give her and her mom a ride home. :slight_smile:

Speaking of which, it seems all the bees out your way are afflicted with something. Bubba got paid $60k to take 1,000 of his bee hives to the Almond growing area of California for the past few months. They were needed to pollinate this year’s Almond crop. He got back last week and said he cleared 36k after trucking and other expenses. I make this to be about three year’s normal income for him. He told me now that he was “rich” he might be going back to Kiev to try his luck again this fall, after honey season is over. I’ll post if anything interesting develops.

36

Actually, according to OCLC, there are 26 libraries with the 1960 World Book Encyclopedia, and 738 libraries with the hardbound version of the Sept. 1996 Scientific American (retitled “Information” in the harbound form).

So defy all you want! :smiley:

37

Maybe not, but at least you can be miserable in comfort.

38

You’re number 2 on the signup sheet.
:smiley:

39

Woohoo! I have a retirement plan!

40

Things suck. I moved halfway around the world last year and left a houseful of books, guitars, banjoes, mandolins, clothes, furniture, gardens, trees, windows, doors etc behind. I thought that I was attached to these things. Was I bollocks. Only thing I miss is my cat.