I learned a couple of words from Encarta yesterday. Some of these are: garbology, “the study of waste materials,” and defenestrate, “to throw something or somebody out of window.” Usage: “I felt like a defenestrated object a few weeks ago but now am fully recycled and don’t feel otiose at all.” Otiose, my dear friends, means “worthless.”
Am reminded of garbology because our corporate office is moving its headquarters to a five-star hotel nearby and all of us are in a frenzy packing our things. The morning had accounting clerks putting inventory tags on our office equipment and me crouched on filing cabinets, sorting out what needs to be discarded and what will not. The end result: mountains of garbage from files that should have been thrown away years ago.
I think it’s the usual hoard mentality at work here. We keep tons of useless documents with the hope that they could be of use to our information gathering someday, and it never comes. Likewise, there are piles of newspaper clippings that are better off accessed in the internet. Too many copies of FEER, Fortune and Forbes. Too many sponsored magazines and books that are better donated to public libraries and orgs.
Come to think of it, how much of the hoard mentality is at work in our daily lives..?
While shopping : Do you really need all those cans of cancer-inducing Spam and corned beef? And how about that exotic satay seasoning for a Thai dish that you will never have time to cook? Frankly, do you think Rustan’s will close if you don’t buy that pair of shoes now?
The hoard mentality is probably the reason why the Philippines is lagging behind in terms of progress. Think Imelda and her 1000 pairs. There are just too many people of power and influence helping themselves to the public kitty. As the cliche goes: the rich get richer, and the poor poorer.
Moving in and out of apartments the past few years has taught me the virtues of judicious collecting and spending.No more buying additional home stuff. No more jumping at every Happy Meal toy. Shirts and pants that haven’t been worn in the past year go to charity. And if you ask me: I dread receiving knick-knacks for my birthday or Christmas. I already have a loooot of key chains, decorative jars and pen holders.
Having said all these, there are only a few things in life I’d like to hoard on : books and good, happy memories with my loved ones.
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