I am a sucker for toys.
Just like a bowerbird collects blue objects I love gear.
Some might say
however that stuff means nothing if it doesn't get used.
But is that true?
gear closet?
A collection of toys for the sake of just pure possession is often viewed as a pointless consumeristic decadence and I tend to agree. But I also see the other hidden side of the reason why often individuals find pleasure in just "owning stuff".
Let me tell you about my experience
of a few years in retail at the largest outdoor gear retail chain in the world.
I used to manage the
bicycle department in a massive shop and occasionally I would mingle on the
floor and help customers with their purchases.
There were some genuine
outdoor type guys that needed gear and pretty much knew what they wanted and knew
how good/bad the offerings in the store actually were.
The vast majority of
people tho that came through the door were clueless and wanted gear for what they
thought would give them a lifetime experience.
Him: “I saw this program
on TV about Mt. Whitney; I want to go there. What do I
need?”
Me: “Sir, what experience
do you have in the outdoors?”
Him: “I walk my dog to
the park and I play baseball. I am a real outdoors lover”
Me: “Hmm, OK, let’s see…”
I love their enthusiasm,
the candour with which they approach life and that they have a dream.
They would ask me what gear I use when I go in them “out of doors” places and inevitably they would buy the
exact same product from the store. I knew that there was also no point in telling them that
some of the gear that I had was home made or that it was no longer available, so I kept quiet ; who was I
to disappoint them?
I also knew that they were
not buying equipment to go to the mountain, they were buying a dream.
A few years later,
returning to Australia,
I started sea kayaking.
The first kayak that I
bought was “expedition” capable. I knew very little about paddling and even
less about seamanship. My new (to me) kayak was large, had a great big rudder
and even came with a sail. I knew I was going to be paddling and exploring
far away places in about a week or so.
Fortunately reality checked-in before I got in trouble and I learned that the sea is not a forgiving
place where I should really prepare myself before dreaming too big.
I recently read on a sea kayaking
forum about somebody that wants to paddle from Australia to Papua New Guinea soon. His
experience so far: paddling a few hours on a calm lake :-)
My second kayak was also a
large big-guy boat, for expedition use of course.
Eventually it hit me: who
am I kidding?
I rarely go away for an overnight paddle and maybe once or twice
a year on a camping trip for a week or so.
I soon realized that that
mighty big boat is not the best suited vessel for my day paddles.
Just like those big
stompers that my customer was now buying in my store, with a cart full of top
end gear worthy of a Himalayan assault. He would have been better off with a lighter
and nimble boot that would not give him blister the size of dinner plates, but
I knew I could and should not convince him. He was dreaming.
And that is how far his
dream went.
I saw him a few months later,
now winter, in my store again. I asked him and he told me that he never got to
that mountain: “Things got in the way”. I will do it next year, for sure.
I should have known:
Discovery Channel showed a piece on that a few nights before.
I loved that guy: he was
enthusiastic about his dreams (and keeping my biz healthy).
I knew that the bike, just
like his “Everest” jacket, would have a special place in his home.
Every so often he would
open the wardrobe and look at the jacket and sigh: one day...
Dreams is something money
can’t buy, for everything else there is MasterCard.
Oh wait a minute, people
are buying “dreams”
Some say that traveling and buying gear are the only two sure ways of converting dollars into happiness.
