Why do we hoard items? Well, you never know, you know.

PositionINSIGHT

Byline: Sid McKeen COLUMN: WRY AND GINGER Old shirts and sweaters are something I throw out without a second thought. Old slacks get the heave-ho, too. Let a sock get so much as a pinhole in the toe and I chuck it out like yesterday's paper. But old shoes? I have enough of them to equip the Notre Dame Marching Band. Why is that? I think it has something to do with the New England mentality. Down deep we expect disaster at every turn in the road. We're eternal pessimists, perhaps from years of watching the Red Sox and Patriots. If this part of the country had its own slogan, it probably would be, ``You Never Know.'' You never know when some burglar is going to break into you house and make off with all your good shoes, and you'll have to go back to one of your old pairs. You never know when a small regiment of your closest friends are going to show up at your front door, barefoot and broke, looking for help. You never know when somebody is going to open a footwear museum somewhere and offer you $1,000 a pair for your antique brogans. Well, you don't do you? Shoes aren't the only thing collected in this household. We have boxes, dozens of them, recycled Christmas after Christmas and birthday after birthday. That doesn't stop us from asking for a box every time we buy another gift for somebody. We've been known to take an elevator three flights to stand in line for 20 minutes to get a gift wrapped, even though we have 30 or 40 boxes of every imaginable size and shape stacked up in the garage. We have paint brushes, scores of them, standing in dried-out bottles and cans that once contained paint thinner. The bristles are harder than cement. But you never know. One of them might come...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT