practicality and such

"You know, you're too practical sometimes," my sister told me once. I thought about that a lot when she said it. Then I forgot she said it, until recently.

Can you really be too practical?

My husband would certainly agree with her. He always tells me to buy myself some new sweaters, dresses, jewelry, whatever; and when I don't he buys them for me. He's sick of that sweater I wear every day. (As he told me again last night.)

But why? Doesn't everyone have those few articles of clothing that are like old friends? My BYU hoodie is faded and literally shredding; it has a cigarette burn-hole in the hood from my bar-hopping night in Vienna. (Oh, I was TICKED about that.) My tan 3/4 sleeve sweater matches everything and is perfect for layering.

{I went through a phase where everything I bought was tan or beige. OK, maybe it wasn't a phase, and maybe I'm not really through it. But tan and beige match everything!}
My brown leather jacket is older than any of my nieces and nephews; I've sewed the buttons back on multiple times. It needs a good cleaning too, but that would cost more than twice what I paid for it.
So I haven't bought jeans since high school and I'm still wearing a pair from 9th grade. And I may or may not have a jacket my mom bought for me in 7th grade.

But those exhausted shoes and that tattered duffel bag have seen more countries than the rest of my immediate family....combined.

Am I starting to sound like a pack rat?

Well, maybe I am one. And maybe I'm even saving some things (namely shirts) for the wrong reasons. Or, maybe there's this little voice in the back of my head that says, "those are perfectly good pants. Just because you've had them for 10 years and haven't worn them for the last 5 doesn't mean that one day you won't need them. You Never Know. Besides that would be ungrateful and - dare I say, wasteful? - for you to throw them away. There are starving children in Africa, after all!"

Oh, that reminds me, have I mentioned that I hate wasting food? HATE HATE HATE it? I'd rather eat wilty salad and picked-at leftovers than waste either. If I let them, buffets (read: the other people at buffets) make me angry at the world .... one major reason I could never work in a restaurant. My food-morals would be deeply and consistently offended.

In a society like ours today, I guess that makes me too practical.