Thursday, November 8, 2012

My Name is Mark David and I Collect Pens and Soap

 When I was growing up I collected stamps. I wasn't fanatical about it,  but I was interested enough that I went to whatever store you were supposed to go to buy them.  For my birthday and holidays many relatives bought me a pack of stamps.
My great passion growing up was collecting baseball and hockey cards. I was very passionate about the baseball cards,  but I was obsessive about the hockey cards. I would not stop each year until I had the complete set. I kept them in a box in my closet for years until my mother threw them out without telling me.  Like most boys my age, I wish I still had them.  They bring back many great memories.
I am sort of a collector. Of something. Always something. These days, I have a new focus. Soap and pens. But not just regular soap and pens.
I collect soap and pens from hotels. I am very diligent about it. I have two thoughts on why I do this and both relate to my personality and how my twisted brain works.
First,  I feel like I am paying for the soap anyway, whether I use it or not. Therefore, since I am the type that wants to get value out of anything, if I am paying for it, it is mine and I am entitled to have it and make full use of it in the future. As well, if I open the package, the hotel is obligated to throw it out,  even if the whole bar is not used up within my visit. And we all know that no one can use up a whole bar of soap within one or two showers. I hate to waste anything. That is just me,  and it has always been me.
On the long trips, I have taken to almost using up one bar of soap, and then taking all the wrapped full bars, until I have almost finished the one bar and then leaving that behind. I have a very nice stash at this point. I could stay clean for a year, easy, and not have to buy a bar of soap at the drug store.
With the pens, for some reason I just love to have pens. With these particular pens, I love that they have the hotel logo on them,  and as they sit around my house in years to come, the look of the pen, even after it has outgrown its practical use,  reminds me of the trip and the things that happened on that trip. That is their value. Obviously, I could buy a pack of 10 pens for a dollar equivalent to the quality of the pens I get at the hotels. But those pens don't carry memories. These pens do.
Being that I have traveled a lot in the last two years, I have a lot of pens and a lot of soap. That will not stop me from taking more.
It's just what I do.  
My Name is Mark David and I Collect Pens and Soap.

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