I've been doing some spring cleaning for the past couple of months. I've also been taking that chance to reflect on the collection and consumption of "things" and why people are the way they are, why they collect the things they do. Looking around my house, I see a direct reflection of my grandmother. Although she came from a large family, they did not go hungry. They had what they needed but not a whole lot more. When my Gramma married my Grampa and started a family at the age of 15, I suppose knowing that times could be tough, she stored many things. Not things in the pack rat sense, or the hoarder sense. They didn't have a lot of material possessions, but there was always lots of food and other necessities to go around. My Grampa was an only child, and I grew up an only child as well. I don't think my Grampa grew up in the lap of luxury, but unlike my Gramma he didn't have to fight nine other siblings for the use of anything either. I suspect he appeased my grandmother quite a bit with her collecting of the essentials. Eventually having a total of seven children, family always gathered at their house and they were always willing to provide. Weekly Sunday dinners were the norm with everyone coming over every Sunday for years, usually totaling up to at least 10 people but lots of times more. Everyone was welcome and no one ever went hungry. I remember my grandmother having workers over one time which was very unusual, as my grandfather used to fix everything that needed to be fixed in the house. As the men laboured on, it became supper time and she had them come up and eat dinner with the family, even though they protested and explained they had to get their work done. She told them they weren't going to go hungry at supper time in her house, and eventually they had to comply. Her theory was, if you had an unexpected supper guest, it was no problem to just throw a couple more potatoes in the pot.
When my Gramma died and the minister came to the house, she asked us to tell stories so she could understand the woman my Gramma was. Everyone went on and told about her generosity and open arms into her home to those that needed it. And the fact that the pantry was still fully stocked, and among other things, there were 27 tins of salmon down there. It was the expensive kind that she would never pay full price for, but stocked up on when it was on sale. At that time, and at the age of 28, I didn't know this wasn't the norm in every single person's home. I thought that everyone went to a good sale and bought 20 or 30 of whatever the excellent buy was, even if it meant giving your kids money to go into the store because there was a limit on the item. I have inherited this trait, which I used to be embarrassed about and apologized to guests who saw the extent of my buying of necessities. Last week I had an electrician come over and when I saw him eyeing up my toilet paper stash I actually said, "Soooo I'm not crazy. I just compulsively buy toilet paper." I'm not sure if this habit is more compulsion or perhaps a deeply insecure fear that one day I might not be able to provide for my family so I keep things stock piled just in case.
Regardless, I am not going to analyze it too much and I am in my house, savouring that cozy feeling with my 806 rolls of toilet paper, 420 serviettes, and enough laundry soap for 795 loads of laundry. That reminds me, I need to get more paper towels. I only have 27 rolls left.
