Cottman,Crawford and the Jersey guy.
Two Brooklyn born gen X guys and a Jersey millennial shooting the shit. Talking about everything and anything. Ready to hear topic suggestions for future podcasts and feedback on those we have recorded. Follow and Like us on FaceBook & Instagram. Email: CCandNJGuy@Gmail.com
Cottman,Crawford and the Jersey guy.
Compulsive Habits and Emotional Ties: The Complex World of Hoarding
What happens when light clutter turns into a life-threatening hazard? Join us as we explore the deep and complex world of hoarding, starting with a shocking firsthand account of a woman whose apartment was overflowing with bottles. This episode uncovers the mental and emotional triggers behind hoarding behaviors, revealing how trauma and experiences like the Great Depression contribute to this disorder. We delve into the health and safety risks of extreme hoarding, emphasizing the need for compassionate intervention.
Ever wondered why some people hold onto seemingly worthless items while others maintain organized collections? We dissect the fine line between collecting and hoarding, using personal stories to illustrate the emotional connections people develop with their possessions. From holding onto family heirlooms to making tough decisions about what to keep, we explore how upbringing and scarcity can influence one's attachment to material possessions. Hear how individuals balance sentimental value and practicality in their day-to-day lives.
Discover how extreme behaviors, like compulsive couponing, can blur the lines between frugality and hoarding. We discuss the thrill of getting significant discounts and how it can lead to addictive behaviors, with real-life examples that bring these stories to life. Listen as we tackle the severe sanitary and safety hazards associated with these conditions and highlight the importance of understanding and intervention. This episode promises a thought-provoking look at the psychology of hoarding, encouraging empathy and awareness for those affected by this often misunderstood disorder.
Please Subscribe/Follow the Cottman, Crawford & The Jersey Guy Podcast.
Follow us on Instagram and Facebook.
https://linktr.ee/ccandnjguy
Email us all your feedback, comments & suggestions at: CCandNJGuy@Gmail.com
Cotman, crawford and the Jersey Guy podcast.
Speaker 2:Hey everybody, Kenny Cotman Lewis.
Speaker 1:Crawford, and I'm Tom Ramage, the Jersey Guy.
Speaker 2:What's up, my gentlemen? What's going on? How goes today? Everybody good.
Speaker 3:Good, good Good.
Speaker 2:Excellent, nice, we gotta jump into this one. I think it's gonna be a good one, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:It's gonna do Well. You guys asked me to pick one. This was on the list and I thought it would be a good one To go over Hoarding.
Speaker 2:Yes, hoarding yeah.
Speaker 3:Hoarding. Has anybody I?
Speaker 1:think we all know somebody I feel like everybody knows Everybody's like oh yeah, I know someone who's a hoarder. Oh, I know that guy. Or I have an uncle, or I have an in-law.
Speaker 3:Or a friend or one of their parents.
Speaker 1:There's always someone who knows somebody or someone that's, so it's a good talk about it, right, because it's a common thing. Some are very extreme, others just light hoarding.
Speaker 3:Right, I think we all. When you think about it, we all do that to an extent.
Speaker 2:That's what.
Speaker 1:I was going to say it just gets blown out of proportion. Hoarding is a level you can't let anything go.
Speaker 3:It's just you're too obsessed over it. Even if it has no value at all, it's going to be, you know. No, I need it, I have to have it.
Speaker 1:On a low level it's like clutter. Right. For us it's different. Yeah, it's just clutter, but like when it builds up to like a problem, where, like yeah, it's out of hand Things are becoming shelves that shouldn't be shelves, like it's out of hand.
Speaker 3:Things are becoming shelves that shouldn't be, shelves Right, like couches and fucking Shaking up room.
Speaker 1:Stairs and shit like that.
Speaker 3:And like the floor, that's when you know it's becoming a hoarding issue Stationary bike.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah, stationary bike.
Speaker 2:That's funny as hell. Now, when does it go when it's hoarding and not collecting?
Speaker 3:Well, the hoarding problem is that there's a lot of safety issues. Okay, fire tripping, obstruction things like that you got to think of all the things. Now, what does it do? It's taking up space in your house, so I'm sure it mentions that in here. It can, uh, can, compose health and safety risks, including hazards, tripping dangers and poor sanitation, which is huge. It's a. It's classified as a mental health disorder and may require treatment through therapy, medication and support from professionals. No kidding yeah yeah, did you guys hear that? All right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, uh-huh. Yeah, we're sitting right next to you. Yeah, no, no, no. But then so I didn't. That's crazy.
Speaker 1:I did travel for a minute Meds Because of my ADHD, so I didn't come yeah. I'm not going to lie, but you know had no meds.
Speaker 3:Yeah, like I didn't think it was that, because it is um, think about it. It's not only a physical thing, but it's also an emotional thing. Yeah, it's an attachment, it's a, you know, you're obsessed over it, you know okay and you got to be. They pretty much got to be talked off a cliff to get to, just to let that shit go yeah you know, okay and I get it.
Speaker 1:But you know, listen, it makes sense to an extent, but you know, but it could be very hazardous to people and it's good if they can get out of that but you know, I I think we, we all do have a little bit of it, but not where it's a hoarding issue, like there's some things we just have like an attachment to them and we just can't get rid of them. And sometimes there are things that like we don't even they're not even like, they're like sitting in like a fucking closet or something like that you know what I mean.
Speaker 3:Most of storage bins, yeah, or like a storage bin right or something you know what I mean it's just like because you're able to. You were able to like discipline enough to know and go through your stuff.
Speaker 1:But you can't just know it's in there and it has no purpose, there's no reason to have it.
Speaker 3:You're not letting that go. You just can't throw it out. There's no way I'm throwing that out.
Speaker 1:I have that you have that. You know what I have. It's a really weird one.
Speaker 3:We'll have to figure out what we all have Go ahead.
Speaker 1:When I got my wisdom teeth removed, they gave them to me and I still fucking have them. Do you really?
Speaker 3:Come on, man, I still have them. I don't know why You're crazy.
Speaker 1:They're in my closet.
Speaker 3:I can't throw him out in the closet. He didn't put it on the necklace or nothing you should. You should wear them, right. Oh yeah, definitely a bracelet. There you go, bro, and you got the expandy thing. Just put it on. It gets real tight around your wrist right is I.
Speaker 1:I like they. I I wrapped them away in like my in a container, like and they when I moved out of my parents house and like tara salt richards, because is that teeth?
Speaker 2:it's kind of morbid though I don't know, is it morbid?
Speaker 3:I mean it's not a bad way, but you know it's got a little bit, really your teeth. Okay, that's funny, though, that's awesome. Yeah, no, unfortunately I had one out done at a time, like one. When it came in, I got rid of it. When another one came in, I got rid of it, kind of that way, yeah no, I would never thought about that.
Speaker 2:But okay, and you still got him. So, yeah, that might be your hoarding, but see, so like now again I don't think it's hoarding, I think it's sentimental.
Speaker 3:Obviously, for some reason right, we all have that Like if there's a baseball card or some game that you had when you were growing up on a video game or a system or sneakers, you're big on the sneakers bro, but that's not hoarding. No, but you're still. You're collecting them, but I use them. No, I'm not saying that, but I'm saying you're right. You've been able to be disciplined enough to know that you have them, you're using them the way you should and you're not letting them take over your life is what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:Okay, I got you. You know what I mean. Okay, all right, you're hoarding. You're letting all of that stuff just take priority, because I've seen the show a couple of times and on the show they show people that goes by what you were saying, that it's a mental health issue. I know that they have therapists come in and talk to them and go through the whole thing and they have, like they'll buy stuff, two or three or four of them because, it's unsafe and never use them.
Speaker 1:I think that's the combination with hoarding. It's not just like not being able to throw stuff out, it's also acquiring.
Speaker 3:Adding to it, it's constantly acquiring stuff, constantly. Let me put more stuff, yeah. You're right, Tom.
Speaker 2:Absolutely right, and then they can't get into, uh, their uh bathrooms or into their, whatever, yeah, rooms, that they, you know, the whole house. Um, it's funny because a long, long time ago, in a land far, far away, I was an exterminator and we went to go and exterminate an apartment and the woman, I don't even want to know no, listen, bro.
Speaker 2:It was insane because she collected bottles it's like the five cent refunds here in New York, okay, and the entire apartment was just full of bottles, the big lawn, the leaf bags, like contractor, oh okay, all over the kitchen, the bathroom. She only had enough space in the bathroom for the toilet. She only had enough space in the kitchen that she had brought the fridge to the doorway like sideways and then that she could open, like she could step in, open the fridge and then close it. Like that was it.
Speaker 3:I would think that would definitely fall under. Oh, definitely, oh dang, oh dang. That fell under that shit and I was like dude, was it?
Speaker 2:I would think that would definitely fall under, oh, definitely, oh dang For sure. Oh, dang, that fell under that shit. And I was like dude, insane. Well, come to find out she was rich, okay, but because she had a disability, the family then came and checked on her at the house, at the apartment, okay, so that. Then you know. They thought that she was good because she would just wash up wherever she washed up, put on clean clothes when she would see them. But when she was out there, she was the bad lady in the neighborhood, because they ended up in a couple of neighborhoods over Bananas. That's crazy, yeah. And only because you said that it was a mental issue.
Speaker 3:It is absolutely Absolutely.
Speaker 2:That's what made me remember that.
Speaker 3:Right, you know that story. Like any trauma, right, it comes from somewhere, something. There's a reason why you're doing this or acting this way. It triggers it for some reason and maybe it comes later. It doesn't naturally come. I wonder, if it comes later like a scarcity.
Speaker 1:Earlier in your life, traumatized from scarcity. You know, like maybe at one point in their life they didn't have a lot of stuff Right or like. That's why a lot of people from like the depression or has some hoarding issues because they had that scarcity.
Speaker 3:So maybe that would make sense.
Speaker 1:But I think that's more of the but I don't think that's the collecting end. I think that's just not being able to get rid of stuff Right, Cause I think a lot of people do that Right. I think the hoarding is like when you're just constantly.
Speaker 2:Yeah, just putting that. Yeah, not throwing things out, yeah Right.
Speaker 1:But also collecting, like purposely going to you know garages. Every time there's a garage sale you're buying stuff, Right, Like you're just storing it.
Speaker 3:Right, and then you never used it and you have it sitting somewhere.
Speaker 1:Oh you go to another garage sale, you buy more stuff. It's like that's like a supporting issue, and that's when and it's wild.
Speaker 2:Wild because the more, the more people show their backgrounds, more candid stuff on social media. You know videos and stuff like that. You'll see their room, that they're in, and they've got like a bunch of shit laid out on the counter.
Speaker 3:There was one I remember hearing sorry, Tom, there was. They found a body in some lady's house. What, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:That was on one of those shows. Yeah, it was One of those TLC shows.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, it was one of those, absolutely was. I think that's where I saw it, but it's been a while and I'm not a big fan of watching any of those shows at all. I don't like them that much. It's too depressing to me and I can't watch A lot of ones have cats and stuff.
Speaker 1:Oh, hold on yeah that's true, I've seen that. But the hoarding thing, some of the stories you hear I remember I had a friend he was a for a little bit. He worked for the gas company the meter guy, check the meters, and that was before they really had a lot of the electronic stuff they have now where they had to still knock on people's door and go in the house and read the meter guy and check the meters. And that was before they they really had a lot of the electronic stuff they have now where they have to still like, knock on people's door right, go in the house and read the meter. And he said there was this one lady she said her entire floor was dirt.
Speaker 1:Wow, I said no, I was like dude he goes, dude, her floor dirt. And he said, on the on the thing, because he had like one of those pda things back then, right, like the like the 2000s it was like late 90s, early 2000s. It said floor is dirt on it On the PDA when it came out to it.
Speaker 2:So it was like she had no subfloor or anything, it was just the ground. No, I think she had floor.
Speaker 1:It became dirt from all the-.
Speaker 2:Shut up.
Speaker 1:From all the years of dust and like that's horrible.
Speaker 3:You know it's sad, right when you think about like again, how does that?
Speaker 1:yeah, I'm never vacuuming, you know, and just dust and like everything you can imagine. If you, if you never vacuum ever, like 20 years living in a house, can you imagine it would eventually become dirt?
Speaker 3:oh, of course, and you're not cleaning it at any point.
Speaker 1:I mean, it's going to build up, you know all the dust, bunnies and the dirt you track in. Oh, absolutely, yeah, that's, yeah, it's yeah, it is nasty.
Speaker 3:Unfortunately, the sanitation part of it is the worst part of it yeah right well, because they're not even throwing away things that should be thrown away. Right, that's the, that's the part that makes it, you know yeah, because they're not throwing away the trash right so they keep. They're keeping all their garbage in there unhealthy and just a lot of bad things in that.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:That's unfortunate, but you know again, like why does someone do that? Like you know there has to be something. You know like you probably weren't like that, but you know I mean it. You know I know that I don't come from house. That's cleanliness you know as far as a house, I mean, I grew up all right, so for me I can understand the part of that part of it, the sanitation part of it so for me I'm the total opposite.
Speaker 3:You know what I mean to my house, you know how I live so you know it's, you know it's what I mean to my house, you know how I live, so you know it's. You know it's unfortunate, something that I experienced in um in my life. But, um, I can understand understand that part only because I lived it. And that's pretty. It's pretty bad situation when you have to live like that yeah, yeah, yeah it is.
Speaker 2:It's not cool. Yeah, like for me I was, you know every saturday was get up, clean the house, you know, scrub everything from back to front, top to bottom, and then then you can go outside and play after you clean the house. You know what I mean put your stuff, do your laundry, whatever it was. So you know, but I, I hear you, you know, that was just to me, it was just the way. That's the way it was, that's the way it Keep everything clean and keep it moving.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, and it didn't start like I said. It didn't. For me it didn't start that way. It turned out that way.
Speaker 2:Really yeah.
Speaker 1:Huh.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's what happened. It wound up being that way, so it didn't start out that way, or you know, right out of gradually in time, yeah is how it progressed kind of like what tom was saying dirt, building on dirt and not just taking care of anything in the house like it's not a very uh comfortable situation, that's like me I you know, as someone who has adhd, we we have a tendency to just have clutter where stuff builds up it's.
Speaker 1:But like I, I think for some people, like they just let the clutter just continue to build up and build up, that right will get to a point where I do get clutter, where I put something down and then I put something else down and then put something else down and then three days later I'm like why do we have so much stuff on the counter? So we end up putting it all away and then three more days later, why is there so much stuff on?
Speaker 2:the counter. We all put it away.
Speaker 1:Why is there so much stuff on the counter? You know what I mean, but that's just like the ADHD thing.
Speaker 3:Absolutely it is.
Speaker 1:But for someone who has a hoarding issue, they just more stuff, more stuff more stuff, and then there's no counter space at all.
Speaker 3:You're just piling stuff on top and when it's that extreme where it has, I've seen things like that Empty plastic bottles like you know empty, yeah, plastic bottles, and you know like, like you see on the shows.
Speaker 1:So it just that's part of the issue too is just like. I think it's so like a combination. It's like just like a storm of like, just not having organizational skills and like just a lot of stuff going on in your life being able to throw away.
Speaker 3:I think there's like this you just gave up and you just don't want to give a shit anymore. Yeah, or a combination of both or whatever. Yeah, but that's sad when that happens, you know, and people who get out of that. That's awesome too that they are able to go through it and you're right and get back to a normal, you know where they're able to be, where they can feel comfortable in their life and not have to worry about all that stuff around them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Well, I mean, I know people that don't get rid of it or get rid of things or clean the house like that Filth and dirt. Because they feel like I don't want the neighbors to see me throw all this stuff out, because that means I had too much stuff and they're going to talk about me. You know like, I know people that were like that I'm like, but we're throwing the shit out, that means you're cleaning the house, right?
Speaker 3:So why would you think that? But that's that whole paranoid thing, that if that's what's happening, then there's definitely something wrong. Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1:There's something going on that needs to be addressed that's worrying too much about stuff.
Speaker 3:I mean Because you're worrying about what other people think and what you're doing in your life. I'm throwing out my garbage you got a problem with that.
Speaker 1:I think we all do, to a point like worry about people who think of us, but that's like what so far? It's like ah, I can't throw out too much stuff because I'm worried my neighbor is going to be like why is he throwing out? So much stuff it's like I don't care what the hell my neighbor thinks.
Speaker 2:You know they were like oh oh what are you throwing out there? I don't get it. What's a?
Speaker 1:murder to Well she's like for us.
Speaker 2:Like you know, we were getting a new couch. So the wife was like, well, don't, what, kiss my ass, this is going out right fucking now, like done, it's out of here. And because it doesn't fit through my door, I have an apartment on the second floor so I'm just launching it off the balcony because it'll go in through the um, the sliding door. So when we got the couch we had to, the guy was on the bottom.
Speaker 2:I helped him boost it up to the other delivery guy that was upstairs the mover, yeah yeah, off the balcony out of the balcony, because what it is is that my front door, the foyer, whatever the stairs is too narrow so we can't turn it to get in. So when I took it out, I took it out. I'll have to take out the same way.
Speaker 3:I brought it in off the balcony and I just launched it and of course you made sure there was no one in the area when you did.
Speaker 2:Oh no, no, no, because the sidewalk it was all grass, so the sidewalk was too far away. But I also didn't throw it all my might. Had I done that, I probably would have gotten into the sidewalk and it was freaking great, because when it hit the grass I hit it on the corner, so it just racked the whole bottom of the frame of the couch oh yeah, it just broke.
Speaker 2:Yeah, People are opening here, people opening their doors looking. You know, it's all spanish people is everything. Okay, I'm like, yeah, it's all good, it's gravy, just me just me throwing out a couch at the window we'll get a new one. Oh, that's great you know that kind of thing, but you know, but she just didn't want everybody to know, right, you know like that, like no, no, you know, just not so loud, I don't want to make it too obvious. I'm like later for that it's all coming, we're getting new stuff. Getting new stuff.
Speaker 3:Watch my house, yeah, you know, but it's unfortunate people people have to think that way, you know yeah if we think that way, because you're allowing other forces in your, outside your life that are right, you know, to dictate, dictate, right, right so then where the? Fuck you are. It's hard, but just still do just push through it best you can man.
Speaker 2:It sucks sometimes, but Now my question to you then is or to you too, because you know somebody who's or know people that have hoarded, yeah, yeah, yeah. When does it is it? Is it a depression thing?
Speaker 3:You know, I think it's a combination of Depending on what that particular person's going through or why they got that way.
Speaker 1:It could be. I'm sure they got depressed and gave up and didn't feel like doing anything anymore and just let their lives just fall apart, kind of thing.
Speaker 2:For some of the people.
Speaker 1:I know I think some of it comes from scarcity growing up Okay, and not being in situations where they haven't had a lot, so that now it's like they're holding on to everything they don't want to let go. You know, it's like kind of your. Your, your belongings are like who you are for some people. You know, it's, I guess, some people, I think, and I think for some people they they put uh, their like emotions into things and it's like and their memories into something, so like when they they have an attachment they remember that thing right, and if they throw it out they feel like they're throwing that memory out.
Speaker 2:So I think for some people.
Speaker 1:Some people do hold on like, but it's like a lot of stuff. Right, it makes sense, though, you know, but it could still be a lot of stuff.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So I think that's the mental thing for some people.
Speaker 3:I think that, like you know, there's two different things. He had one. I said something I'm sure, there's more reasons. There's probably different reasons, there's got to be a lot of reasons why it could trigger, trigger someone to get down that road.
Speaker 1:You know, like there's different, and I was sad because something's going on in their life that they need to.
Speaker 2:You know uh address if they can, if they're lucky enough yeah, because I mean, I know, for me it's funny because you're saying what you just said about holding on to stuff because it's a memory. If I can't remember where I got it or who was around me for it, I'm tossing it. You know, eventually like I go to my storage and I'm like unless it's a functional thing yeah like your tv, right yeah yeah, yeah, yeah
Speaker 2:yeah, well because you know what it is too, is that I might forget about this is that like my style of I guess we'll say decoration? You know? Uh, I'm a guy, so you know I'm cool with having little cars, matchbox cars, hot Wheels cars and all these other things, certain pictures and whatnot that don't go with the aesthetic of the house, of course.
Speaker 3:The wife is doing all that stuff, the daughters are doing that. She mind that.
Speaker 2:Well, some of it, so I'm allowed a little spot in the hallway going down into the bedroom where I've got my comic-con pictures, art, right, things like that that I've gotten. So you know marvel dc, um, cartoon network, stuff, all kind of anime and whatnot, and she let me put up this crazy groovy collage in the corner. But it's out of the way of like the living room and like I would have to take people on a tour to go and look at you know, my pictures and stuff and my movie posters in that corner. But now we're getting new furniture, so now that takes away from the you know right.
Speaker 3:So now, stuff's gotta go.
Speaker 2:It's gotta go, but I don't want to throw it away, because don't throw it away well in storage. Well, I only only reason why I say that is because it was signed artwork.
Speaker 1:We all have attachments well to this, but collectibles too. But it's collectible.
Speaker 2:That's what I'm saying. So then I can't just throw it away.
Speaker 1:That's a collection, right See, that's not a hoarding, that's a purpose to that. It's a collection. I'm getting this, but is a collection a low-level hoarding.
Speaker 2:That's what I was asking. That's what my first question was Small.
Speaker 1:Organized, it's organized and there is monetary value to some price.
Speaker 2:Exactly. So now do I give it to my sons, because my girls won't like it, but my sons will.
Speaker 1:If it's a collection and it's monetary value and stuff like that, I think it is worth it to hold on to it and down the road you might put it back on display.
Speaker 2:Maybe it is worth it to hold on to it and like down the road.
Speaker 1:You might put it back on display when you maybe right if you know your living space changes or you're just the rearrangements of your living space, like maybe you know you get smaller furniture down the road or something like that right or whatever, I don't know whatever it could change you know, yeah, you want to put it back out on display. You know you can do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, I mean, like I said, because, uh, you know my son jason, he's into you know the anime and some of the stuff I'm you know you can do that. Yeah. Well, I mean, like I said, because you know my son Jason, he's into you know the anime and some of the stuff I'm you know as far as that's concerned.
Speaker 3:So I can put it up in his room.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean. I can give it to him he can take it up in his room, my son Andrew. You know he's more of like with the figurines, some of those other things I would send to him. You know what I mean. Let him just grab it. But like I said, it's just I can let stuff go. It's not a problem for me to let it go. I just worry about. I don't want to say worry you have an attachment.
Speaker 3:No, no, no, no, yes, you do, we all do, because we have stuff that we like, that we collect, that we have. You do have an attachment to it. So, you want to make sure you give it to the right people so it doesn't get ruined.
Speaker 2:That's what I'm saying, because I want somebody to appreciate it.
Speaker 1:Yes, exactly. That's what it is, the attachment, because you know you're like oh, I don't like Because if you didn't have attachment you'd be like you could set on fire.
Speaker 2:Right, so I didn't but it's still.
Speaker 1:There is some kind of right like you need to make sure it goes to the right hands.
Speaker 3:They appreciate it the way I appreciate it right.
Speaker 2:See, that's why I didn't think that I kind of did that with my dad's stuff, right, but that's different.
Speaker 3:That was your dad's stuff, yeah, but so I didn't. A lot of people just throw their stuff away, right, people just throw stuff away. They don't care I didn't was it going to use or enjoy and it would just sat around and what would I have done? So I wanted to make sure I gave it to people. That are a place where people can come in and enjoy it and be part of that. Yeah, share that with them.
Speaker 2:Like dude, like your decorations in here. I wouldn't even classify this, as you know, hoarding.
Speaker 3:No, not at all. You know what I'm saying? Not at all, you know what I'm saying. Neither do I. But I have an attachment to this stuff, for sure, right?
Speaker 2:but it's collectible stuff and then every so often you actually rotate some of your things. You know what I mean. Like you'll take this down and you move this over here, yeah, and you know what I'm saying. So you do that. You know, that's what.
Speaker 1:I'm saying, plus, this is artwork, it's all my stuff through the years that I held on to it's part of your personality that I held on to there you go.
Speaker 3:That's what I'm saying, and then I was able to put it out the way I hoped.
Speaker 1:I would and I did so. I'm still working on it too. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:Listen, I think it is a type of I don't know if you should say hoarding, but I think it and you want to display it, and you want to do all those things that you're not hurting yourself or anybody else, then it's, then I think it's a good thing, of course when it becomes like debilitating right right right, I remember one of us.
Speaker 1:There was a story um I, the I had a teacher, um a professor when I was going to school. Uh, he was a psych professor. He's talking about his's the first time I've heard a hoarding. He was talking about his dad who collected newspapers. Every newspaper from the last 30 years in his apartment and there was alleyways of hoarding and like do you realize what kind of fire hazard?
Speaker 3:oh my god. You imagine if one the guy didn't smoke, did he? Oh my god? He said he was worried for his.
Speaker 1:But he said he figured out where he could smoke and where he like.
Speaker 3:Had one place where he smoked cigarettes oh my god, but it was starting to come in, you know, right, oh my god, that's risky man, but now here's the shit though I have.
Speaker 2:Yeah exactly, bro, flick that one, go outside and smoke, yeah right yeah, dude, but see like I have newspapers from like when the giants won the super bowl. I do too when the mets won the uh.
Speaker 3:Series.
Speaker 2:Like I've got those things, you know.
Speaker 1:Not every newspaper.
Speaker 2:No, not every single one.
Speaker 3:I have the papers when the Yankees beat the Mets in the World Series.
Speaker 2:But I have Playboys for like the whole year, like whole years, you know, 70s. I've got the first black woman on a on a playboy cover. You know I've got um. You know I've got all the pamela anderson. My dad had that one by the way.
Speaker 1:Yeah, those are, those are actually worse.
Speaker 3:Yeah, those are worth my father, my father, those right and uh, he, you know, yeah he, he had a stack of playboys.
Speaker 2:My father, I'm serious, yeah, but see, now all of mine are in my mom's garage in florida, so that I really do have to go out there and go attachment my comic books. I have a shit ton of comic books that are out there. I have to go and get them, and you know I have to. I'm gonna have to sell them, but and then now here's the other thing. Too, though, is it hoarding, so now I collect comic books. People aren't buying comic books the same way, but I'm still holding on to them because I'm waiting for that monetary value to go up again.
Speaker 3:You know what I mean. It just might, it just might, and besides, you do Is it hoarding? No, because you have an attachment to them, because you like the comics, you like what you read in the comics. You, you just collected them and look at them. Right, you knew how to collect. What was this. You knew the in and out of the comics.
Speaker 3:I was never really into that but, you liked that kind of stuff, yeah, so you enjoyed it. So you don't want to just get rid of that and throw that to the side. I don't blame you. I wouldn't want to do that either.
Speaker 2:But if I sold them we'd have a studio.
Speaker 3:Well listen, what you do with your money is your business.
Speaker 2:Well, I'm just using it as an example, Like if I really sold them, you know, I probably well, depending on when I sell them, because you know one man's garbage is another man's treasure. You know what I mean. So then for me there might be someone out there, Because I mean even now, At some point, when you turn around and you can read comic books now on the internet, you don't even get it. You get a subscription now to DC or to Marvel. You can read off of your Kindle or your tablet or whatever.
Speaker 2:Right, of course, you can download it now, yeah, one of the streaming services, you could watch the movies and DC. It was a DC universe. You could read the comics on your television. That's awesome.
Speaker 1:I got a big TV it was a DC universe and you could read the comics on your television.
Speaker 2:That's awesome, yeah, well, yeah, I got a big TV so I was like, you know, it was pretty groovy, but I'm like, so then, now, who's going to buy comic books? So now, if I hold on to them, I'm a hoarder. No, no, it's not.
Speaker 3:It's not, it's not like you're having a, you know it's overtaking your life and you're obsessed with it and you're you know, letting it be priority and nothing else except for that. No, you're not. You have a normal connection to what it is you like and you don't want to just see them get thrown to the side and you know, like thrown in the garbage or someone not taking care of them.
Speaker 1:that would be the same way anything that I had be the same way and and even, even if you're like, even if, like, they stop making comic books and it's all digital, like right, those comic books will still be valuable because the comic characters are still super popular.
Speaker 3:They're in movies. They're still making. X-men movies or X-Men 97. Marvel, yeah, and DC, and it's rare.
Speaker 1:Because I say Marvel did the same thing, you know. I'm just, you know you know, what I'm saying is like if they still make movies, they're still doing stuff with them, but they're not printing the comics anymore and they're just digital. Say that happens, those comic books will still be worth money.
Speaker 3:You should take them to comic com with you and then have them signed by people when you're there.
Speaker 2:And they'll go through the roof. My shits are like everybody's almost dead now, if not already dead.
Speaker 3:Made the comic books 70s and 80s.
Speaker 1:What would be cool is if you can get like x-men number one and it's got the two two, stanley and kirby kirby kirby, or it was something like that jack kirby. Yeah, like they're both dead now plus two.
Speaker 3:Like you know, stanley knew he was.
Speaker 1:He was the man I think there was an artist that's still alive, or yeah, I'm having a brain fart with all the stuff that I had.
Speaker 2:But I got the guy. I have a, the picture that I have of uh spider-man right, and it was the dude who just started doing. He signed on it that he just did the new. Well, I'm gonna say it's a couple years ago, the new way of uh spider-man right, because you know it's the web of spider-man, all that other stuff. But because this guy did that is the miles, morales thing and blah, blah, blah. So because I know that I'm like I can't do that one out and it's a hologram, it's a freaking 8x11 hologram. So no, I get it.
Speaker 2:So like you said, I'm looking at it, I'm a hoarder I have my, he has his thing, I have my.
Speaker 1:There's some cool things too, by the way yeah before. I don't want to be too off top, but I just have to bring it up. There's some cool things too for collectibles to have like in the comic book universe is like you'll have like um, I saw someone had like a spider-man like comic book that was signed by toby mcguire yes like the actor to sign yeah so that's kind of cool. Some people do stuff like that yeah, yeah like arnold schwarzenegger, like sign, like a terminator comic.
Speaker 3:Yeah you know it's cool, that would be awesome, he's a Terminator. He's got to sign the comic book. Listen, if you can get his or anybody's autograph. I, when I was a kid went to see. Kiss at Radio City.
Speaker 3:Right and this is when they were touring without their makeup. Okay, they were doing it en masse, all right. So that's when they had Vinnie Vincent and Eric Carr as the drummer. Right Right, I saw them in Radio City, but before I saw them, I actually went to go see if I can get their autograph. So we get there. There's a mob at the front door. There's no line. People are waiting on line. You're not getting in.
Speaker 3:Right, we go up to the front. I get in there. We finally get in. I was able to get in. I almost went through a plate of glass. By the way I got in. I got all their autographs on a dollar bill.
Speaker 2:Oh, no, kidding you still have that dollar bill. Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Bro, that would be great and that's a unique thing to have. You know what I mean. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I would have liked to have.
Speaker 3:I wanted to always try to figure out if I could get Peter or Ace to sign it. You know like I would be like I would just send it to them so they could send it. You know, sign it and send it back to me, kind of thing. You know like, listen, I don't have to see you, I don't want to come to your house, I just want you to sign it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because you know you're the original.
Speaker 3:That would be cool because we went to the chance to see musicians sometimes will go.
Speaker 1:They have like things like comic-con they do.
Speaker 3:They have their own type of stuff. Kiss does that all the time. I'm sure they go and they you.
Speaker 1:You know you can pay and have them right yeah thing and these meet and greets and, like all different musicians, yeah that would be awesome you can have.
Speaker 2:Usually you can bring something to that and they'll sign the personal and, like I said, you know, but because you have that emotional attachment, let's say you have this stuff in abundance, like you've got. You know, you follow KISS across the country and you have all this stuff designed.
Speaker 2:Right, you know that would be hoarding with everything every t-shirt that you got, every banner, every autographed book or whatever. Like they start to know you by name because you know, oh, I saw you in Vegas last week. Right, you know what I mean. Like, whatever. Like they start to know you by name because you know, oh, I saw you in vegas last week.
Speaker 3:You know what I mean. Like so, yeah, it becomes a, it just takes over your life and and that becomes priority, right, and you can't stop doing it. You know, and you feel like if you stop, you know, who knows what's going through a person's head. You know what I mean I just got another one.
Speaker 2:so they show on tv a couple of shows that that it's the when they buy with the coupons. I forgot what it's called. Oh, it's like super coupons. Yeah, you ever seen that? So people go out. I used to watch that. So now these people go out.
Speaker 1:Now they only pay like a dollar.
Speaker 2:But is that hoarding Because?
Speaker 1:they're going out to buy.
Speaker 3:They make it a stockpile.
Speaker 2:So they're in their garage, in their kitchen, everything is piled up.
Speaker 3:Well, I would think that's the word you would use Because in order to it's a stockpile.
Speaker 1:Yeah, in order to save big, you have to buy like a hundred of Right, but you're doing it to that extent.
Speaker 2:Laundry detergent Okay, I've got that many comic books because I was stockpiling them for them to buy a house, but you're using it.
Speaker 3:They're still using the product. It's a consumable item.
Speaker 1:And you are consuming it.
Speaker 3:However that is, it could be toilet paper. It could be anything you got no toilet paper to wipe your ass for the next few years. Something wrong, bro.
Speaker 2:Your ears are bothering you bro, it's just itchy, wow, yeah, just itchy, wow, yeah, that's extra. Yeah, no, but I mean, and I guess that makes sense, yeah, yeah, you know, I guess that I wouldn't call it.
Speaker 3:I wouldn't have called it stockpile but it is like, but that's what it is when you think about it, because when you go to it, when you see the show that I know that you're talking about, they go down into their basement or whatever room that they have and it's stocked to the nines.
Speaker 1:They are actually going to use it, Not like I'm going to use it. I'm going to use it.
Speaker 3:No, they actually use it and they go out and get more deals and they just replenish whatever they used.
Speaker 2:Now one thing you could look for because you got your phone at the handy. Is it a compulsive disorder?
Speaker 1:I funneth the handy. Is it a compulsive disorder? I guess it could become one. Oh yeah, you for sure, because there is a thrill to it. Actually there was, they made a movie. There's actually a movie about that. Like they made, like it was like a movie it's a movie about, except they, they, they coupon and no look at the feds on them because they steal coupons and they make like millions of dollars off like stolen coupons. But they were super. They're one of the super couponers it's on netflix.
Speaker 1:I saw it on netflix it's movies a couple years old, I I forget what it's called, but um, yeah, it's great, but yeah, but anyway, yeah, so like, I think it can be like because there's like a thrill to it and like a lot of these people they get such, if you want to get like a high man, while that, while they're scanning it, like it takes them like 20 minutes yeah the coup coupons Bloop, bloop and they're watching it. Go ding, ding, ding ding.
Speaker 2:Two cents, five cents, 23 cents 160 dollars 170 dollars, dude, I saw when the lady got money back.
Speaker 1:And they're just getting this rush, yeah, like when people win the lottery.
Speaker 3:Or when people win in gambling.
Speaker 1:That's what it's like, so I think that it can be.
Speaker 3:Yeah. It can be a disorder of some sort.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for sure it can be addicting, or addictive yeah.
Speaker 3:For sure, Because of that feeling, you like the excitement you know you get something out of it. That's a big dope, a dope, oh yeah, you know.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean, I get it. Like you said earlier when you were doing the definition, you know the hoarding when it becomes that it's a health hazard. You know you can't get into your bathroom or you know pets are missing and you know whatever you know.
Speaker 3:I get it.
Speaker 2:You know when you're smoking on your bed.
Speaker 2:your house is just dirty as it is. I saw one where this lady was um, eating, sleeping and just relaxing on the one spot on her bed, and it got so bad that she had to put a quilt on that spot in the bed because she had worn out, oh my god, the the mattress that you could see the coils. And then the bad part was that she had so much junk all around her that even if she wanted to get another mattress, she couldn't get that old one out, oh wow, or be able to put it on top of what was there, because there was just that much.
Speaker 1:There was no legs on the frame Right. Yeah, that's just sad. Yeah, that's sad man there was no legs on the like.
Speaker 2:There was no bed frame. The frame itself was up off the floor because she had put so many things under. It was insane. Another thing too, does.
Speaker 1:There's nothing, and that's another thing. You know, as I was saying, like there's this storm of things, one of the things I think also is they nothing clicks for them to go. I need to throw all this crap out what this. This is too much yeah, that never happens, because that to us that happens eventually. At some point we go this is too much, I gotta get rid of. Some stuff like this is eventually. You just look around, you know what I mean yeah, I got too much.
Speaker 3:I gotta clean it up or whatever I gotta do. Yeah, I think that doesn't happen with them. They just that's fine, it's fine, but I don't think it is though or you think.
Speaker 1:Or you think like the walls are closing in, but no, no.
Speaker 3:I think they know, they see it.
Speaker 3:Obviously they're not you know, but to you they're making sure that they're oblivious to it or whatever their attitude is, but there's no way that they're not going through something or feeling something about what's around them. I mean, I can't imagine that it's not an emotional problem. You know that would create one, would should say to create an emotional problem. You know that's not a good thing, right, would you want to be around that all day? No, yeah, that's like you know. I mean, no, you know it's that's not a happy situation something in them that's that's not clicking for them right to be.
Speaker 1:I'm unhappy. I need to get rid of this stuff because it's just a problem. Yes, that's what doesn't look.
Speaker 2:I don't think right, and what about kids that are involved? You know, so now you got the kids that are growing up in that stuff. You know, yeah, then, and it's gotten to where now their rooms are have become storage, so the kids can't even have their own space because the parents have put all their stuff.
Speaker 3:The kids will just follow suit most likely if they're born into it like that yeah, yeah, because that's the only way they know how to live, or right, or?
Speaker 1:the opposite, or the opposite freaks yeah because they're so, they don't want to live that way.
Speaker 3:Well, that's kind of what happened with me yeah, yeah, yeah yeah that's the way I think um although I didn't think so.
Speaker 1:My father was a neat freak. He was like oh my god, I couldn't like what is. I cleaned my room, he goes. That's not good enough.
Speaker 3:You got this and I clean again he goes.
Speaker 1:No, you still have. Yeah, point stuff out. But um, like, apparently, like he said that, like my grandmother was like meticulous probably no it was like like messy oh but like I went to my grandmother's house when I was younger, she wasn't.
Speaker 2:So maybe she was, you know, maybe she did you know that she was messy, or you didn't notice.
Speaker 1:You know what I'm saying like I don't definitely not like.
Speaker 3:Her apartment was always maybe she changed through the times.
Speaker 1:That's what I'm saying maybe when they were younger? Yeah, maybe when they were younger, yeah, maybe when they were younger.
Speaker 3:See, it's something that happens in your life, right, that'll affect you to be a certain way. Look at him. He responded to you in a way where no, no, no, that's got to be cleaned, that's got to be cleaned, that's not done A lot of the stuff. Now he's manic about it A lot of the stuff in your formative years makes who you are.
Speaker 1:Yes, absolutely. You know what I mean those formative years when you're a kid. Absolutely you know from like toddler to like, I don't know, 10, 11, 12, you know. So if you grow up in that, it just shapes who you are. So I think a lot of it has to do with it. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, and it definitely has an effect on you for sure. So I with it, yeah, yeah, yeah, and it definitely has an effect on you for sure. So I can identify and that's and that isn't you know. In that sense I should say, um, it's just unfortunate that people get them that themselves in that type of situation. You know that must be very difficult for someone to get out of it. But if they are able to, yeah, and then that's awesome it doesn't require.
Speaker 3:It doesn't hurt to try. You know what I mean. Does not hurt to.
Speaker 1:They always have some kind of therapist or psychiatrist or psychologist Right.
Speaker 3:It took me a few times to quit smoking. Yeah Right, really yeah, it took me. I quit probably close to 100 times, I'm sure, in my lifetime.
Speaker 2:Oh, wow Me too.
Speaker 3:Yeah, what I finally quit, I finally quit. So it'll be hopefully that one time they're getting close to that one time and not have to go through all that.
Speaker 1:I smoked from my mid-teens all the way to my late 20s.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I smoked for a while.
Speaker 1:I'm sorry.
Speaker 3:I was agreeing with you.
Speaker 1:From like mid-20s to like late 20s Was my period of I'm gonna quit. Oh, can I bum a cigarette off you can I bum out no, I'm back to smoking. All right, I'm quitting now. Oh, can I bum a cigarette off you can I?
Speaker 3:bum a cigarette off you, I would never quit, I would just become like the biggest mooch in the world I would have to.
Speaker 3:I associated with that only because yeah it took me a while to finally say I'm done, yeah, I'm not doing this anymore, and I'm sure that's kind of the same mindset. That's where you have to be, where you just got to keep doing it. You're not going to get it on the first try, most likely Maybe not the first 10 times, but eventually, if you give up, then you're never going to get it, but at some point you will, and you know. Yeah.
Speaker 2:That's a good thing, I think. Yeah no, listen, I get it.
Speaker 3:For anything really right when you think about it, when you're going through something, go ahead.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry, no, no, no, no, you're doing okay.
Speaker 3:I'll probably say the same thing you say, just because it's with anything that might be going on in your life, it may not be your hoarder.
Speaker 2:It might be something else that help. You know. I think that one of the things that people nowadays have to really understand, believe, is the need to get help. If you feel sometimes, depending on what's going on, you don't know, you need the help. You know what I'm saying Hoarding when you see that your house is a little bit like clutter, you get that help. You know. Yeah, find out what the underlining issues could be and or are. You know it's. If you said it's a health thing, you know it's for sure mental health, physical health, physical health other people's health if they live in the house, which you were.
Speaker 3:So yeah, it's definitely a psychological thing. It was something that they should go be go seeing therapy and figuring it out yeah, for sure definitely.
Speaker 2:You know that's in their best interest yeah, and one thing I you know I appreciate us for. You know, when we do this podcast and you know just now, starting the videos and stuff we push not, I don't say not a natural, you know we we urge people to go and get that help. I don't know if we're just letting them know it's out there, right, we always put it out there, like you know, we always put it out there. You know, make sure you take care of your mental, make sure you take care of your physical. You know, because you have to be okay. If you're not okay, you can't make sure anybody else is okay. You know you deserve to be happy Period.
Speaker 1:Everybody deserves to be happy, of course.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:That's important.
Speaker 2:Listen, I'll tell you what. I just hope that with some of the stuff I got in storage, that I'm not considered a whore. You're not a whore, trust me. I have my own stuff.
Speaker 3:You're not a whore. Look, that's just part of the nature.
Speaker 2:When it gets out of hand then you have a problem. It depends on who you ask. For me, it's like no, it's collectibles, it's all good. You ask the wife and she's like throw that shit out. I'm like what the fuck is that? Again, I don't remember half the stuff where it came from, except for the comic books. That's it With that, gentlemen, with that, with that, with that, appreciate you guys. Bon voyage, bon voyage. Yeah but with that, appreciate you guys being here.
Speaker 3:Don't forget to write.
Speaker 2:Yeah, write in. Let us know how we're doing feedback. Whatever good, let us know how we're doing feedback all that other good stuff.
Speaker 1:Thank you guys for listening. Love peace and hair grease. Live long and prosper and go vegan, are you?
Speaker 2:sure go vegan. I think so, go vegan. See, I messed up the button, oh what the We'll see you next time.
