Is What You Want ... Really What You Need?

Not being entirely sure in which direction this is going, I will instead forge ahead in an effort to quiet the endless words swirling in my head.

I just returned from dropping off the kids at daycare for the day - there is only so much that can be accomplished with two munchkins bouncing off the walls. And after delivering them into the loving hands of their caregivers, I decided to swing by the store to grab a few things I needed. On my way, I was sidetracked by the big "50% Off ....Sale...." sign at the Salvation Army.

I love that store! I think it speaks to the dumpster-diving side of me

Anyway, the store was filled to overflowing with hundreds of people all there to take advantage of the sale. Low priced merchandise is shinier than new when it’s 50% off.

I found two antique matchbox tins at an amazing price.
One for myself, the other to be a Christmas gift.

Wandering further, my attention was drawn to an antique steamer trunk in exceptional condition. Late 1800’s. Covered in stickers from the ships upon which it’d sailed. Drawers lined in vintage canvas. Brass bindings and corner brackets. Leather strapping still in good condition. Wood hangers hung from brass bars in the top of the trunk; the bottom was divided into drawers and compartments to hold everything from hair pins to hats. A section of the trunk even pulled out and turned into a padded seat. 

Absolutely beautiful.

Priced to sell at discount for only $50.

I wanted that trunk with every ounce of my being.

As I was admiring the craftsmanship and its condition, an older woman came up to me and complimented it as well. Seems she collects antique steamer trunks. She said this one was in the best condition she’s seen for its age and at an incredible bargain to boot!

Her next comments were a little more profound.

“Can you imagine what it would have been like to place everything you needed to have inside of this trunk, to travel to a foreign land? A hundred years ago or more, people packed everything they could into a trunk such as this to come to a new country, to start a new life.”

Everything they needed.
A few things they may have wanted, if they would fit.
An entire life packed into a 4’x3’ steamer trunk.

And at that precise moment, I turned and looked around the store filled with people walking that fine line between Need and Want. Justifying their Wants because of a simple sale.

For a good 20 minutes, I walked around that store looking at the people shopping, listening to their conversations [Salvation Army Stalking], and thinking about all the things that I have that have been purchased out of Want and not so much out of Need.

And I put the antique matchboxes back where I found them.

Because while I wanted that trunk more than I want Universal Healthcare, I needed that trunk to remind me of what is important.

Everywhere you look, people fill their heads and their homes and their hands with things they do not Need.  I am no different than the millions of other people around the world who purchase to fill a Want because it screams louder than a Need.  We get coerced by the bright lights and the discount prices because ‘tomorrow it may be gone!’ Cheerful music playing in the background soothes the voices in our heads that tell us we really don’t need another one of those for the house.

It’s sad, really.

And merchants sing to the voice of Want.  Capitalism at its finest.

I am one of those merchants.  My nights and weekends are filled with creating things that people Want; that children Want.  I present the fruits of my labors to the loudest voices of all:  children’s voices.

I do what I do because I do not want to continue working for a company that is more concerned with how the world is doing than with how its own country is doing.  I want to give back to the Land of Opportunity.  And it is only through the growth of my own business that I will be able to bring jobs back to my homeland instead of shipping them overseas.

It’s a long journey; one that began with a small step many years ago.  It is a journey that will continue to the end of my days, because each day that passes is a forward step in a positive direction.  Each day presents the opportunity to give back in some small way.

So, as I prepare for one of the largest shopping extravaganzas in the ..Pacific Northwest.., I am also setting aside a few things for those children whose voices are not so loud; whose voices cannot be heard above the cacophony of Christmas overindulgence.

This year, as with previous years, I’m giving back.

  

As for the trunk, I may go back and get it as a reminder, but for now I have a job to attend to: filling the Wants and Needs of others.