Beware of Tosser Syndrome!

I don't really think Michele Starkey is at risk for the horrible compulsive disorder that's the flip side of hoarding, but this article runs some risk of enabling toxic tossing...

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/8389557/drowning_in_excess.html?cat=43

I have to agree with Lady Samantha's comment. The bad kind of excess is not the personal possessions that keep homes from looking like hotels. The bad kind of excess is the half-dozen outlets of the same chain in one town, the absence of individual businesses that actually appreciate customers...and the hundreds of four- to eight-seat vehicles rolling around with just one body inside each one...and the dumpsters overflowing with completely unnecessary packaging because corporations that pack everything in plastic and styrofoam don't have to pay dishwashers...now that's ugly.

How often I've given thanks that so many of my elders saved stuff. I don't always know what something meant to the person who saved it. Maybe they were really saving it for me to light the fire with on some unforeseen future morning.

That's so much nicer than tossing something that might have been useful. Passing on something to someone who needs it now does not count as tossing. Exchanging something you no longer use for money you can use does not count as tossing. It's that sick, compulsive "If you've not used it in six months, throw it away!" syndrome that ought to be grounds for immediate hospitalization of the tosser.

(In England, I'm told, "tosser" is considered a rude, verbally abusive name to call anyone you happen not to like. The precise etymology has not been explained. The etymology of my use of "tosser" is obviously linked to "person who has a compulsive need to toss useful objects into landfills." If it has a disparaging sound, all to the good.)