Homeless

Last Sunday a coal train came into the plant with a couple of transients on board. A man and a woman plus a dog. They left in a hurry. It got me thinking. Living where we do we see a lot of people walking around with big backpacks and such caring signs, wanting rides. The other day I saw a man walking on the side of the road with a large day pack caring a duffel bag. I would guess he was caring all he owned. At first I thought poor guy. Then I remembered I had to rent a 26 foot U-haul packed floor to ceiling to move down here. We still didn't have enough room for all our stuff. My daughter and I were sore for a week because it was just the two of us caring stuff into the house. Poor me I think.

Stuff! Things! Crap! Who owns who. Do I own my stuff or am I just a slave to it? Time and time again I try to reduce this mountain of stuff. I just can't get it done. So who's freer? The homeless man or transient carrying all they own on their backs? Or me carrying all I own on my back crushed by the weight of it all. This addiction for stuff is fueled by that temptress the TV. "Your life sucks" so buy our stuff and you too will be handsome and strong and rich and successful. The government says we need to buy more stuff to stimulate the economy. "Don't save, buy"! The credit card companies and banks tell us to barrow so we can have more stuff.

So now I've gone from talking about transients to being a wage slave. One thing leads to another and it's a strong man who can resist the siren call and not be dashed upon the rocks. To become another shipwreck on the alter of STUFF.