Posted 4/11/2004 10:19:00 PM by Douglas

Lileks takes a reflective look at the past, as usual, with typical Lileksonian profundity.

After a while the sheer weight of undistinguished items is too much, and you have to let go. You have to take the bolt cutters to certain ties to the past. Old ugly china: does it matter that it belonged to Great Grandma? It does. But in the end it doesn't. If you could make these items speak, it would be different; if the salt cellar could describe who sat around the table on Christmas Eve, what they wore, what they said, who had manners, who laughed too loud, who watched everyone with birdy eyes and said nothing -- that would be different.

Individually they're fragile and undistinguished. Collectively they have value, presence, and heft; you can't get rid of them, so you put them in the top cupboard and leave them alone. Just like family! Oh, relax, I’m kidding. But bad china is a curse passed from generation to generation. If only we had a tradition that demanded we break all the dishes when the bearers finally pass; even the kids could join in, flipping the dishes like Frisbees into the grave.

We spend a lifetime accumulating crap, and so does everyone else. What do you think is going to happen to yours?