# What's the thing you inexplicably own a million of? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 4, 2026, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-thing-you-inexplicably-own-a-million-of/1028206 "2026-03-04T21:07:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-thing-you-inexplicably-own-a-million-of/1028206/1 "2026-03-04T21:07:06Z")
I’m getting close to owning 100 watch straps. And there’s simply no reason for it. I do like wearing wristwatches but I’m not so into them that it makes sense to own this many straps. The vast majority have never been worn. The trouble is, every time I’m shopping online I get a recommendation of another watch strap, and they’re fairly inexpensive so another one goes in the basket. Yes, I will start selling some, I just thought I’d count them while I am at the high watermark and was shocked it was over 90. I guess better this than a cocaine habit. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-thing-you-inexplicably-own-a-million-of/1028206/2 "2026-03-04T21:16:39Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > I guess better this than a cocaine habit. That’s true, I suppose, of course I’ve never heard of anyone who suffered from a watchband addiction. Why did you think you needed more than one watchband per watch? It’s a pain to change them so you usually only wear one until it wears out. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-thing-you-inexplicably-own-a-million-of/1028206/3 "2026-03-04T21:19:32Z")
It is nice when you find the perfect combination that makes the watch look leagues better than it did with the stock strap, and now it’s unique too. But I am not trying to rationalize it. I’m basically using the Dope as my support group 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-thing-you-inexplicably-own-a-million-of/1028206/4 "2026-03-04T21:19:42Z")
White cotton gloves, I’ve got over 100. Hygrometers…..okay, 5 is not a million, but it’s more than most people have. I have lots of customized facemasks. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-thing-you-inexplicably-own-a-million-of/1028206/5 "2026-03-04T21:26:25Z")
My mother probably has at least 10 styluses. She keeps dropping and losing them, and buying more before finding the old ones. It’s a problem because she can’t really use her phone all that well without her stylus. I tease her that we’re just going to staple one to her forearm eventually. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-thing-you-inexplicably-own-a-million-of/1028206/6 "2026-03-04T21:29:54Z")
Reading glasses (the cheap-ish things you get at the drug store). I don’t own anywhere near a million but I have way more than is reasonable. Not completely sure why. I do not buy them because I like the design or anything. They are a utilitarian item for me. Yet somehow…I have a lot of them now. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-thing-you-inexplicably-own-a-million-of/1028206/7 "2026-03-04T21:32:54Z")
Ask a knitter how much yarn they have. Or how many needles. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-thing-you-inexplicably-own-a-million-of/1028206/8 "2026-03-04T21:36:05Z")
Continuing from a different topic, I have been collecting the containers and lids from a particular brand of potato salad that I quite like, because the shape and size of the containers and the tight-fitting lids made them very useful for freezing various leftovers. I was saddened when the brand was discontinued but – yay!! It’s back! So my tower of stacked containers grows ever higher! ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-thing-you-inexplicably-own-a-million-of/1028206/9 "2026-03-04T21:37:02Z")
I have no idea how many pairs of reading glasses I own, but it’s a lot. I have one in the basket that holds the TV remote. One in the pocket of most of my jackets (so probably 4-5). One in each of the cars. One that I keep with my EDC items. One in front of my keyboard. Two or three in a box holding miscellaneous eyewear ( eg sunglasses, extra prescription glasses). And I think there’s at least two in my work locker. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-thing-you-inexplicably-own-a-million-of/1028206/10 "2026-03-04T21:44:00Z")
Yes! We have a jillion of the Talenti gelato containers with the screw-on tops. They’re good for all kinds of stuff. If we ever run low, I’m sure we could manage to eat more gelato. I also have more bookmarks than I’ll ever use. I bought some I love, and also people give them to me, but the one I use daily is just a pasteboard one I picked up at the library. When it’s beat-up enough, or I lose it, there’s plenty more where that came from. ---
**Author:** ![Jegpeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jegpeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jegpeg)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-thing-you-inexplicably-own-a-million-of/1028206/11 "2026-03-04T22:14:17Z")
Either the title is misleading or none if giving correct examples, even the OPs only has 0.01% of a million watch straps. I might have a million particles of flour but that is pretty explicable 😜 ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-thing-you-inexplicably-own-a-million-of/1028206/12 "2026-03-04T22:43:23Z")
I have over a dozen ball point pens. Every charity seems to think they guilt me into donating be giving me a pen. One or two even have my name on them. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-thing-you-inexplicably-own-a-million-of/1028206/13 "2026-03-04T22:54:26Z")
My wife is a piano teacher, she must have 10,000+ #2 pencils. And almost as many dried-out ink pens. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-thing-you-inexplicably-own-a-million-of/1028206/14 "2026-03-04T23:10:53Z")
Ice cream tubs. It’s not entirely inexplicable as obviously I buy ice cream and the empty container looks useful, but after stacking up 20 in a cupboard I really ought to stop hoarding them, but I can’t bring myself to throw away such a potentially practical item. I do use a fair number for things, admittedly, but so many lay empty. ---
**Author:** ![GenerationJones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@GenerationJones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GenerationJones)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-thing-you-inexplicably-own-a-million-of/1028206/15 "2026-03-04T23:12:32Z")
I was a paramedic in my youth and live with two other former medics. We have _hundreds_ of pairs of EMT shears and hemostats on the premises, entire drawers full. We don’t know how this happened and suspect they come alive at night to procreate, same as the coathangers. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-thing-you-inexplicably-own-a-million-of/1028206/16 "2026-03-04T23:29:11Z")
Scrunchies. I had to keep a stash back when I had a cat, because he would steal them and stash 'em under the couch. But I don’t have a cat anymore, so there is no good reason for a drawer full of scrunchies. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-thing-you-inexplicably-own-a-million-of/1028206/17 "2026-03-04T23:51:18Z")
Cheap pens. I was an an inadvertent stealer of pens for decades at my former job. I always had to be jotting down things on the job, so I always had to have a pen and every day at the start of my shift I’d stick one in a breast pocket. Inevitably a certain percentage wandered back home with me at the end of the day. Occasionally I’d return a fistful to my work credenza, but over the years probably two for every three that ended up at my place. I probably still have a few dozen laying about my home in various places. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-thing-you-inexplicably-own-a-million-of/1028206/18 "2026-03-04T23:55:43Z")
Stripedy French sailor shits. Watch you’ll see them everywhere on movies, ads, TV shows. Why can’t I have the right one. I watched Mutiny on the Bounty(old one with Gable), recently and there in B&W were lots of sailors and MY shirt. Gah!! Many configurations(yes there are 100s). Can’t find just the right one. One day….. (Seriously I’ve bought about 17, it has become a problem) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-thing-you-inexplicably-own-a-million-of/1028206/19 "2026-03-04T23:56:30Z")
I probably have a couple hundred ballpoint pens. I like to grab swag when I attend community events, and those are ubiquitous. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2026, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-thing-you-inexplicably-own-a-million-of/1028206/20 "2026-03-05T00:12:26Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Stripedy French sailor shits Just how many shits does anyone need? And just what are these French sailors eating that their shits are striped? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-thing-you-inexplicably-own-a-million-of/1028206.md?page=2)