February 18, 2004
Incredible. Pack rats are truly a fascinating and tragic species. Personally, I can emphathize with them in a lot of ways. There is actually someone close to me with this problem--it is an ongoing conflict in her family. At the moment their garage and one of their larger bedrooms is full of her stuff, much of which once belonged to deceased relatives, and is thus a senstive subject.
I think having money helps a lot--then you can afford storage space and postpone the act of dealing with it all.
Some fellow co-opers and I once helped this insane pack rat lady move all her shit from one apartment to another. She just couldn't let all that shit go. Her place was a kind of cat paradise. It was just sad to see this brand new apartment filled with her shit, to the point where we left a kind of path between the stacked boxes allowing her to get from the kitchen to the door to her mattress, and that was all the room there was.
I don't think you did that woman any favors. People like that need psychological help and someone to call the Fire Marshall for them. It's especially cruel in a situation where the person has pets as it affects the animals as well.
Yeah, I was actually thinking of confronting her, but the roomate I had a crush on at the time was against the idea. She was paying us, after all. And I'm not inclined to think it was such a bad situation for the cats, but of course I can't say for sure.
Granted, if I could go back in time I would probably call the fire marshall.
Well, if you refrained from saying anything in the hopes of getting laid, that seems like a valid moral choice.
I can't believe that woman sleeps on that three feet of couch space. I have never seen anyone with habits anywhere close to that. Tragic.
No, pathetic. Unless, of course, she was once a great queen or an Olympian goddess. :)
No, tragic is the right word. She's sick and seems unable to help herself. I hope the son (with the help of this Goon community) can help her.
Yes, yes. I was making a joke based on the literary distinction between tragic and pathetic, not the common use of the word. I thought I made that clear. Certainly it would be good for her to get help, but she doesn't seem to be harming anyone with her compulsion. I hereby renounce my earlier statement that people like this need help. Those who would enforce normality upon the harmless eccentrics of the world are those truly in need of help. Down with conformity!
Oh, for reference:
tragedy:
1 a : a medieval narrative poem or tale typically describing the downfall of a great man b : a serious drama typically describing a conflict between the protagonist and a superior force (as destiny) and having a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion that excites pity or terror c : the literary genre of tragic dramas
pathos:
1 : an element in experience or in artistic representation evoking pity or compassion
So unless you consider her eBay addiction fate, then pathetic is the proper literary term.
also for the record, I got it. nicely done.
This makes me extremely grateful for all of my grandparents, and my parents, all of whom are seemingly pretty good about getting rid of stuff. I've been through my paternal grandparents' house a few times, and though they certainly don't lack for stuff - one entire bedroom is devoted to a poorly-organized library, mostly consisting of stacks of books and magazines - at least cleaning out their house in a few years won't be a tour of psychosis. They just have a small house.
My maternal grandmother is even better about these things. She recently moved from a house to an apartment, and though I'm sure it wasn't easy for her, she willingly parted with a large portion of what was a not-excessive amount of stuff to begin with. I can't help but think that this is because she leads such a fulfilling life that the things that surround her are less important.