What People Buy/Why People Buy

Since I'm across the pond and I won't get the chance to meet this group face to face, starting with a bit of personnal info seems in order.

I'm 53yrs old, single white female, I live in Akron, Ohio. For the past 11 years I have worked retail for a big box home improvement store. Before that I worked as an LPN ( liscensed pratical nurse). I live in a middle class, blue collar neighborhood. I have a quirky sense of humor. I love to cook and feed people. Enough of sounding like a Singles Add.

I don't think I'm anything very different or special, but sometimes I look around and scratch my head, wondering about people as a group.

As I said, I'm a bit quirky, not just in my sense of humor but in my thought process at times. I'll notice one small thing and then my mind can race off.

Here's my latest quirky train of thought. Toilet bowl brushes.

In my life I've had two toilet bowl brushes, the first was given to me when I moved out from my Mom's house. So in the past 32 years I have made one purchase of a toilet bowl brush. I lived in houses with more than one bathroom for 3 years. Those houses were rentals I shared with other people, I can't remember if a room-mate had an extra brush or if mine did double duty. For the other 29 years I've lived in one bathroom houses. While I'm not a fan of housekeeping ( read that as messy) I do keep my bathroom clean. My toilet brush does show signs of wear, but it's no where near worn out. It still functions very well. I think I can expect another decade of use from it.

Working retail I see lots of toilet bowel brushes being sold, every day, sometimes multiple ones being bought by the same person. Why? Did I win the toilet bowl brush lottery and get a special type of long lasting brush? Is there something special about my pee and poo that prevents my brush from disintigrating? Is there a toilet bowl brush fairy that has been secretly leaving me new brushes without my knowledge? I find these highly unlikely.

Sadly that leaves poor options for the explaination of the vast sales of toilet bowl brushes. The number of people who have been taught to buy whether they need to or not. Oh no, there might be germs on that brush...rather than a soak in some bleach water, I'll throw it out and get another. Oh no, there's a bit of rust stain on my brush...time to get a new one. Oh no, I changed my bath colour to eggplant and this taupe brush clashes now...time to get a new one.

From there my mind jumped to other common household objects. Dish drainer, again I've had 2, and the first one I bought second-hand at a yard sale. Brooms...I don't remember how many I've bought but I use them until the bristles are worn, then send them to the garage for outdoor use. When the bristles are pretty much gone the handle will find some use, often as stakes for plants in the garden. Glass jars with large mouths are treasured for storing left over foods, as are many plastic food containers. Throw them out and buy "special" plastic food storage containers....why?

I'm not trying to claim Sainthood here, I do use plastic wrap for food, but where posssible without spoiling food I use wax paper or aluminum foil (and the foil gets recycled). I do buy some plastic food storage contianers, but I check and only buy the type that will recycle.....and use them until the crack apart before recycling them. None of this is new to me, I've been doing it all my life.

I walked around my house tonight looking at the items that have been with me for decades, still functioning as well as ever. Maybe I am different, maybe I learned frugality from my Grandmother and my Mother. Maybe it's the fact that I dislike shopping. The truth is, I like my old stuff. While this item doesn't get much use, my ironing board is an old wooden one. It was either my grandmother's or my great-grandmother's. I got one and my sister got the other. No one knew which was which. Throw it out and get a new one....no way! 

So how much stuff is bought because it's really needed? I fear it's a very small portion of manufactured goods.