Quote:
Originally Posted by Sirrotica
... the depression mindset is to, never throw anything away that you might need in the future.
...
My father would be 105 if he hadn't passed in 2007, my mother is just a few months shy of 99 YO, they both saved everything that they thought, "they might need someday".
I can testify that that mindset is passed down, because I tend to save a bunch of things I can re-purpose to something else. ...
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You call it a "depression mindset", for me, it's more practically described as "the mindset of an immigrant with nothing to their name";
Both sides of my family were sponsored to move to southern Alberta (approximately north of Great Falls Montana) in 1948 from Germany;
My brothers are not as bad as me (I'm second generation Canadian), but I still find myself hanging onto crap - the real amusing thing is how sometimes it's surprising how handy this junk can be.
I'm getting better at it, because like you suggested, I too have become more aware of it.
A poor... or maybe good example is a couple years ago, my youngest brother's neighbour passed;
He never had kids, and was in his late nineties;
I believe his nephew dealt with his property, and most of it went straight into a garbage bin;
He told my brother that if he wanted anything to just take it.
I actually grabbed a bunch of stuff from the bin, and use some of it all the time;
The best grabs were a heavy iron rod for breaking ice, and a great lawn edger (with extra unused wooden handles).
Each of my brothers grabbed an item or two, but I was in full-on treasure hunting mode!
har-har!
I did say I am getting better, but I also do amuse myself with examples like "Fred's" stuff.
He was a super nice guy, I have a small chuckle every time I grab one of his tings, or dig into a box full of "his" household hardware
