You may have heard of a new show on A & E called "Hoarders." As fascinating as it is disturbing, this show is not for the faint of heart. Each episode showcases two individuals with a serious hoarding issue. Some of the people are food hoarders, others hoard junk. Either way, none of these folks can throw anything away, and often times it gets to the point where they are sacrificing their own health as well as family relationships just because they feel a need to hold on to their stuff.
Not unlike my low tolerance for horror movies, this show is pretty difficult to watch. (I will admit, though, that it also has a classic train-wreck effect: as horrifying as it is, it is extremely difficult to take your eyes off the carnage.) And since we're on the subject of horror movies, I must point out that the scary subject matter also has me yelling at the screen in a manner one would expect from a tense audience during a Freddy Krueger movie; only, instead of cries of "Don't go in there! He's behind the door!" I hear myself saying things like "Ugh! Just throw it away! It's GARBAGE!"
But, for all its disgustingness, I will say that the program does serve a purpose, other than shocking and offending the nation's most sensitive stomachs: It makes you want to clean like never before. Craig and I watched a couple episodes last Sunday, and despite the fact that we finished after midnight and had to get up relatively early the next morning, we both went downstairs, and without saying a word to each other, started cleaning. I'm not just talking pick-up-the-toys cleaning, either. This was a serious endeavor, going through cupboards and drawers, trashing unused items and putting things aside that needed to be donated. In the true spirit of our unplanned joint venture, Craig made me get rid of a bunch of jars in the kitchen cupboard that I was saving just in case I ever needed them, and I started bugging him about the George Foreman grill that we never use that he just can't quite let go of. It was pure, unadulterated, purging bliss, brought on by nothing more than A&E's desire to exploit one of the strangest neuroses our fine country has to offer: having too much dang crap.
So, what traumatizes you into cleaning like a mad-person?
sounds like a fun day! i LOOOOOVE throwing things away, one of my favorite past times.
ReplyDeleteCompany always throws me into the cleaning frenzy. My Dad hoards and I have that tendency with papers and clothes. But, my sis-in-laws Mom should be on that show. Her house is so full that she has 2 storage units to pack more junk into. It has to be a sickness.
ReplyDeleteApparently, after 4 kids ... nothing. It's true. Deep cleaning has gone from meaning rearranging cupboards, cleaning out closets, and restacking sheets & towels by size and color to meaning clearing off the couch so I have somewhere to sit. :)
ReplyDeleteNothing gets me cleaning like a good fight. I don't know why but whenever their is negative energy in the house I just start putting things away and washing stuff. Not that it's good to fight. And just to disclaim: I do most of my cleaning when I'm not mad.
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