When sweet memories are for sale

When sweet memories are for sale

JAKARTA (JP): Household items, to my wife, are just like shoes to Imelda Marcos. She has a collection of what my son refers to as "junks", consisting of dishes, electrical appliances, cutlery, eatery, and all kinds of china, that could fill a department store.

I know my wife is not the only Indonesian who loves keeping used things. In a hospital, one day, I met a lady who had just become a grandmother. She showed me a baby blanket, neatly wrapped in a silk scarf.

"I've just had a granddaughter," she announced as if she had just won a Nobel prize for an important invention that would change the world. "And look at what I have here. This is the blanket my son wore when he was taken home from the hospital so many years ago. And I want his daughter to wear it now. Oh, what a wonderful memory."

Her son tried to protest.

"But, Ma, after so many years the blanket may be full of germs. Why don't we just use a new one?"

The proud grandma dismissed the idea. "Oh, you don't understand, dear. This blanket brings a lot of good memories of the old time. And, I still have your first food plate, your milk bottle, and your candle. Your wife would love to have them for your daughter."

"Yes, she would love to dump them into an incinerator," the poor young father whispered to me. And I don't blame him. Who would want to use a piece of twenty-seven-year-old second-hand baby blanket in this age of modernity ?

It's all right to keep a collection of precious antiques, gems, drawing, or china. But to keep used household items is somewhat "foolish".

When our son came back home after graduating from a college in Bandung and we needed more space to breathe, I eventually talked my wife into selling her collection of "junks". She realized that it was useless to keep the things she didn't need. I also persuaded some neighbors to take part in a garage sale to get rid of their unused items.

After putting on an ad for a garage sale in a newspaper, those ladies began to work. They brought the items to our garage and put price tags on each of them. But, I felt hopeless when I overheard what they said.

"Oh, my! This is the blender we brought the first time we went to Singapore," said Mbak Anna, a neighbor who pitched in to sell her unused items. "And I'm not supposed to let it go, although I have had a sophisticated food processor."

"Look at this!" shouted the other. "Tantyo used it when he first learned to ride a bicycle. I have to keep this bike."

"Talking about nostalgia, this kerosene stove reminds me of the early days of our marriage. I feel like it's just yesterday that my husband helped me clean and replace the wick. Oh, where has the time gone?"

"Are you going to sell it?"

"Not in a month of Sundays!"

Those ladies went on and on with their nostalgia. And when it was time to open, there were only a few items left for sale. Others were marked SOLD meaning that the ladies did NOT want to sell them.

"Sorry, sir, an early bird has caught the worm," Mbak Anna sang when a man wanted to buy her old vacuum cleaner. The truth was, that particular item was a gift from an ex-lover on her wedding day.

Needless to say, by the end of the sale, most items went back to where they belong. And when I demanded an explanation, the ladies answered in chorus: "Men do not understand."

-- Carl Chairul