Nov 15, 2017 3 min read

Last time, I wrote about how amazed I am that folks scour other people’s trash to find treasure. While giving my house a makeover, I’ve put a lot of things out by the curb, taken many an item to charity drop-off sites and sold several items. As I got rid of rid of old furniture and other belongings to make way for other furniture and belongings I’ve had in storage for several years, it all got me thinking about comedian George Carlin.

If you’ve never heard Carlin’s riff, “A Place For My Stuff,” do yourself a favor and look it up on the internet. Whether you watch, listen or just read the bit, you’ll likely be laughing out loud. My favorite excerpt:

“That’s all your house is – a place to keep your stuff. If you didn’t have so much stuff, you wouldn’t need a house. You could just walk around all the time. A house is just a pile of stuff with a cover on it. … That’s what your house is, a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get … more stuff! Sometimes you gotta move, gotta get a bigger house. Why? No room for your stuff anymore.”

I absolutely have too much stuff, and I’m not about to get a bigger house, so I’ve been getting rid of some of my stuff by selling it online. I’ve had so much success and fun doing it that my boyfriend now calls me, “Wheeler Dealer.” He says there’s a reality show starring me in there somewhere, but I’m sorry to tell him there’s already a reality show with that name, although I’ve never watched it and don’t know what they wheel and deal. I’ve sold dressers, a porch swing and a dining table, to name a few items. I even sold a set of box springs without the mattress! My cousin laughed and told me she can’t wait to see what I sell next.

The really nice part of wheeling and dealing (in addition to the extra space and money I now have) is that I’ve met some very nice people who are genuinely excited to get these items and give them new purpose. I guess they just need more stuff, and my stuff suits them perfectly.

There’s the girl who drove from central West Virginia for an old desk that will provide enough space for her computer and her huge cat. Then there’s the gal who’s going to paint my grandmother’s old dresser for her young daughter. I’ve told several buyers to send me photos of their projects when they finish to see how my stuff looks once it’s their stuff. I have no plans to buy more stuff, as I still have plenty of stuff to sort through now that the storage unit is empty. Time for more wheelin’ and dealin’!

Kristin Emery can be reached at kristinemery1@yahoo.com.