My mum used to be a child minder. She looked after several different children over the years, but one of them was a small girl who always came equipped with a Clatterpiller. She loved that toy. She hated sharing it. Even if she was playing with one of the toys that my Mum provided, if she saw another child touching *her* Clatterpillar then she would throw a temper tantrum. My Mum’s solution was simple, if Clatterpillar was not going to be shared then he would be placed on the shelf and nobody would have him, hence this is now known as the Clatterpillar Principle.
This ethos was instilled in me too. I’ve been both sides of the coin, having lots, having nothing, I know what things are important to me. Material things are not important, memories are. The other stuff can come and go. I always try and remember that other people aren’t as lucky as me, I make good money doing something I love. Unfortunately this world doesn’t reward effort, only achievement. Another lesson my Mum taught me was that effort is the most important thing, always try 100% and be proud of whatever you achieve.
The flip side of this is that I tend to get quite attached to things. Not because of their monetary value, just because of the memories associated with them and also because I look after things really well and worry that other people won’t take as good care of the object as I would. If I lent you something that means I really trusted you to look after it. If you’re still speaking to me then I guess that means I was right to trust you. :-) It might seem like a strange thing to think about, but if I ever woke up to find water pouring in to my room again (note placement of word “again” – my room has flooded before, I somehow managed to sleep through it) then I wouldn’t save my AF1s, or my hats, I’d grab my memory boxes, I’d grab Beaver, Padger and Pumba… and some clothes, people would look at me funny if I was nekkid.
Post tune: Desperado, Mac Miller, Macadelic.