The American University in Cairo
Maadi, Cairo, Egypt
contact@savvy-women-magazine.com
I’m back in America and that can only mean one thing–it’s time for my backside to become reacquainted with the nearest comfy chair and then for me to watch a little TV.
Each summer, when I’m back in the States, I like to take note of the viewing habits of my fellow citizens. When I first arrived a little more than three weeks ago, the whole Casey Anthony trial was big. My mother was one of those who knew the case backwards, forwards, and sideways because she watched the coverage religiously. As it so happens, on the day and at the hour the verdict was announced, I was lunching at an all-you-can-eat buffet where Chinese food is served. They had CNN on big screens with the sound muted and captions running along the bottom. Suddenly, everyone stopped mid-bite, forks and chopsticks suspended in space, and then it was announced: CASEY ANTHONY NOT GUILTY OF MURDER. All around me I could sense that there was a collective gnashing of teeth and not just because people were chowing down either.
Of course, “reality shows” are big in America and have been for years. This year, though, I’ve noted an apparent interest in something called “hoarding.” The shows that feature hoarders examine specific case studies. Of course, I’d always known about messy people, about those who allowed all manner of garbage and whatnot to gather in their homes, but I’d never really put such behavior together in my mind with “hoarding,” a troubling psychological affliction that requires immediate professional intervention. Anyway, here’s Rocketboom’s Molly’s take on hoarding.
She raises some interesting (and perhaps troubling) questions: Where does one draw the line between hoarding and collecting? What is the difference between someone who collects and someone who hoards? Is my grandmother’s collection of ceramic chickens damning evidence that she has a deep psychological condition that needs treatment? Would she be considered a genuine hoarder if she simply took her chickens off their display shelves and threw them on the floor of her living room? Is messiness the deciding factor? And how big of a collection is too big?
Now that I think about it, I’m troubled by the fact that I’m troubled about hoarding. Maybe I’m not taking the condition seriously enough? Perhaps I’m really in denial about hoarding and don’t even know it? Is it possible that I have a complex when it comes to this topic? Perhaps I should seek the advice of a trained professional to help me answer these questions?
