Hoarders on A&E. OMG!!

[xultar]

That's all I have to say on the subject.

OMG!

Because I'm rendered speechless when it is on.

The commercials give me some mental rest...but when the show is back on...my mind is completely fucked.

[stopbush]

1. I really dislike the euphemism "hoarders."

It's like calling people "litter bugs" - has a sweet ring to it. Why not call them "I think I'm privileged and that others must pick up my shit after me" assholes?

Same with hoarders. Where I come from, we called 'em pigs.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Hoarders are mentally ill -- usually some extreme sort of OCD.

They need help, not condemnation. Nobody wants to live like that, but they can't help themselves.

[xultar]

4. I think some of it depends on the situation. Because on the show now...

I see one lady who is a hoarder (food) and one lazy couple with 5 kids who won't clean up and won't teach her kids to clean.

The lazy couple's answer to why there were cheerios on the floor..."the dog doesn't like cheerios." That isn't hoarding.

[stopbush]

13. That was my point. This show does a disservice to the mentally ill

when it mixes their stories in with the slobs.

BTW - the greatest cure for hoarding is to relocate every couple of years. You may try to save everything the first couple of moves, but after that, you'd be amazed at what gets dumped.

[thereismore]

16. I agree. They are being shamelessly exploited, in many cases. nt

[DJ13]

3. My wife has watched three episodes today

She likes the show, and I think like most everyone she can see a tiny bit of herself (and me!) in those people.

[xultar]

5. Everytime I watch it, I go home and throw shit out.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. Me, too.

My own tendency toward untidiness is totally dwarfed by these guys, but they inspire me to clean and throw crap away because their homes are SO awful.

[Nay]

18. Me three. I watched the shows mentioned above when I couldn't

sleep one night (I watched them online), and I spent a couple of hours putting stuff in boxes to give away. :)

And yes, it seems to me also that they've mixed in total slobs with ppl who are genuinely mentally ill -- the woman with rotting squashes and lettuce heads all over, and slime oozing out of her fridge and freezer, is mentally ill. They guy and his wife with the kids are simply slobs.

[DJ13]

8. Same reaction my wife had!

I think the show should be sponsored by a trash bag company.

[robinlynne]

9. too funny.

[Initech]

7. That show is fucked up.

Did you see the one where they had to tear down their kids' playhouse because it was being used to hide a large pile of trash? :scared:

[xultar]

10. Crazy. This show makes me wonder about life on the planet earth.

[Warpy]

11. I've really tried to get rid of a lot of stuff

I've taken multiple boxes of books to the library, mailed boxes of books to the NOLA library after Katrina, hauled multiple trash bags of clothing I'll never fit into again to the thrift shop, put piles of crap into the dumpster on trash day, and loaded cans and jars into food bank drive bins.

Still, I swear it's breeding in the corners, everywhere I turn there's still more damn STUFF to get rid of.

Maybe it's time to hire a skip.

[xultar]

12. Well, I know when I go home this weekend. I'm going to start tossing like

there is no tomorrow.

[nutshell2002]

14. So horrifying

but I keep coming back for more each week. They never did find her lower dentures :(

[xultar]

15. Notice they had to keep telling her not to put the one they found in.

sad.

I just cleaned out my suitcase here in the hotel...I had to clean something. When I get into the office I'm gonna clean out there too and lord I cannot wait till I get home. I'm gonna have to get some force flex bags. I'm gonna trow out shit I'm using just to get rid of it.

[freeplessinseattle]

17. a neighbor has 3 vehicles filled with crap parked on our streets

drives me crazy because parking is so competitive here, and his cars obviously only for storage. I've seen him move them (barely drivable) around the block now and then to avoid a ticket or tow for adbandoned vehicle, or DHS condemnation, but he has the ever precious zone permits required in many Seattle neighborhoods with tight parking.

I guess it wouldn't bother me so much if the cars were used for more than storage, I've been tempted to offer to pay for a storage unit if I had some extra cash to throw around, just so I'd have an easier time parking.

He happens to be the landlord of the building behind me, probably why he has so many permits, and may even keep some rooms just for his stuff. Maybe cleared out one of the rooms to get more money so that's why he acquired the third car last year.

He has one of those Rapture stickers on one of the cars, but I'm not sure if it's his sticker or was from a former owner.

[Captain Hilts]

19. My mother became one in her last years. Really sad. And very upsetting. nt

[onager]

20. Thanks! Another one of my guilty pleasures.

Watch for the one about the old guy in Alabama, IIRC. His property had about sixty non-running vehicles parked on it. (He had lost count.) Including a school bus that had probably not run since the Reagan Administration.

He was NOT a car collector. He had big plans to sell everything for the scrap-metal value. So his property also featured piles and piles of random metal trash, like old appliances, mismatched wheels, and about a hundred non-running lawn mowers and tractors.

He may have mental problems, but he sure copped an entitlement attitude when his neighbors complained. "It's my property and I can do whatever I want."

A judge disabused him of that notion. He went to jail for a weekend, and the judge promised he'd go back for 6 months if he didn't clean up the place.

My mother, in South Carolina, has a neighbor just like this clown. Fortunately with a smaller piece of property. He has at least 3 rotting "mobile homes" parked on his land. When one wears out, he just leaves it in place and buys another one.

He has lots of old refrigerators with the doors still on, illegal even in SC. And to top it all off, he lives right beside an elementary school.

This is a disaster waiting to happen.

But when anyone complains, he and his lawyer go to court and accuse them of being property-hating Communist dupes. So far he has gotten away with it, since the county has no zoning laws.

(BTW, that lack of zoning laws bit the Bible-thumpers in the butt when they tried to close down a topless joint. It's too close to schools and churches? The local law pretty much said "Tough shit - we don't have any laws to cover that.")

[Kerrytravelers]

21. This show makes me so sad.

I've seen several episodes, and like many upthread has said, it has certainly inspired me to re-evaulate what I have, how I keep it organize, what I give to charity and what I bring into my home to begin with.

I am unhappy that the show mixes those who suffer from mental illness and those who are lazy. Although, I would wonder that even those we consider just slobs are people who have various levels of depressions, etc., but they play it off as nothing and therefore appear less vulnerable than others.

Whatever the case, it is so sad to me that approximately 3 million people live like this.