HOARDERS!
- Thread starter Alleycats
- Start date
i haven't seen it, but have heard its a bit disturbing.
aamof, i was buying bins the other day to do some sorting? and the check out girl went on and on about how she was watching Hoarders just the night before, and how the lady on it sure could have used a BUNCH of bins...
that was sorta weird... :scratchchin:
aamof, i was buying bins the other day to do some sorting? and the check out girl went on and on about how she was watching Hoarders just the night before, and how the lady on it sure could have used a BUNCH of bins...
that was sorta weird... :scratchchin:
I find that show really disturbing.
I can't make it through a full episode.
It seems like these people have serious mental issues and i feel like the show is exploiting them w/o offering any help.
And the animal horders, it's just so sad.
I can't make it through a full episode.
It seems like these people have serious mental issues and i feel like the show is exploiting them w/o offering any help.
And the animal horders, it's just so sad.
Metro Retro Vintage
VFG Member
Definitely! In fact, the recent decluttering that I've been doing for the past week and a half is due to that show. It's like shock therapy!
hatfeathers
VFG Member
I get squeemish with that one too, and that Life After People show, they both creep me out.
I just wonder what they're throwing out that is still good. Of course, the ones who refuse to part with pizza boxes and trash, they have issues.
My Dad has a construction biz, and things were slow over the winter last year. A landlord called and asked if they would do general cleanup and hauling, as someone had left "a bunch of stuff" in a house he had. Dad said he'd come see what the job was. When he got there their was nasty furniture, junk of average low renters, and then the back room. The owner opened it up and it was full to the ceiling with garbage bags. The people just bagged and threw it in. Our town has mandatory bags for curbside pickup, which run 50c for a 13 gal, $1 for a 30 gal. It can add up if you don't recycle or compost. Dad said he could hear the mice scurrying around in the bags!
He told the guy he wouldn't have his crew do anything he wouldn't do, and there was no way he was going in there....and my Dad was raised on a farm where he mucks out stalls, births calfs, worms dogs, cleans deer carcass ...he's not averse to the icky, but that gave him the willies!!
I just wonder what they're throwing out that is still good. Of course, the ones who refuse to part with pizza boxes and trash, they have issues.
My Dad has a construction biz, and things were slow over the winter last year. A landlord called and asked if they would do general cleanup and hauling, as someone had left "a bunch of stuff" in a house he had. Dad said he'd come see what the job was. When he got there their was nasty furniture, junk of average low renters, and then the back room. The owner opened it up and it was full to the ceiling with garbage bags. The people just bagged and threw it in. Our town has mandatory bags for curbside pickup, which run 50c for a 13 gal, $1 for a 30 gal. It can add up if you don't recycle or compost. Dad said he could hear the mice scurrying around in the bags!
He told the guy he wouldn't have his crew do anything he wouldn't do, and there was no way he was going in there....and my Dad was raised on a farm where he mucks out stalls, births calfs, worms dogs, cleans deer carcass ...he's not averse to the icky, but that gave him the willies!!
Elsewhere
VFG Member
We watch that show - my papa was most definitely a bona fide hoarder.
It's fascinating, disturbing and scary.
And I can't sit still when it's on. I find myself getting up constantly to pick things up and put them away or throw them away or put them in DONATE piles!
Come to think of it, that's probably why DH likes to watch that show so much...
:scratchchin:
It's fascinating, disturbing and scary.
And I can't sit still when it's on. I find myself getting up constantly to pick things up and put them away or throw them away or put them in DONATE piles!
Come to think of it, that's probably why DH likes to watch that show so much...
:scratchchin:
listitcafe
Registered Guest
I know five in my area. Two of them not only have stuff at home but in storage and I also found one of them has a second house full of stuff....
I was shocked to find one of my models who is in highschool has parents who are hoarders....I went in to talk with her sister and could not easily locate the sister due to stuff. These are great people and I am concerned at the situation.
-Chris
I was shocked to find one of my models who is in highschool has parents who are hoarders....I went in to talk with her sister and could not easily locate the sister due to stuff. These are great people and I am concerned at the situation.
-Chris
Metro Retro Vintage
VFG Member
I'm often thinking the same thing as well. There was one fellow -- a beekeeper, who had the antique bricks of his old school, which he cherished.
I wish they could have brought in someone to make a walkway out of them for him, or one of those "What's In Your Attic" experts to at least sell them for him (antique bricks have a huge following).
suzysparklesalot
Alumni
my husband is always turning the channel to that show with the hope that I will get inspired to get organized. It seems to be working I am cleaning the closets out and geting rid of stuff I don't need. 
My stash is of course nothing like that.
I do feel sorry for all the people on that show though.and find it hard to watch.
My stash is of course nothing like that.I do feel sorry for all the people on that show though.and find it hard to watch.
boncly
VFG Member
We watched it once and ... were horrified. Honestly, I thought my mother's family were hoarders. They weren't. Packrats, yes. Hoarders - at least by the definition shown on that show - no. 
. My mother had an obsession with toilet paper. She'd buy it by the 12 pack - it started a thousand years ago when there was a "toilet paper shortage". Right. To me, that was hoarding. What I see on that show is filth. Did you see the one where the woman lost her cats and they found the flat, fur carcasses in the house, under all her garbage??
My house has been screwed up to the point that I was embarrassed - due to life events like when my son was in ICU for a month and all we did when we were at home was drop things where ever, hit the shower and hit the pillow; when the water heater rusted out and the basement flooded and everything had to go upstairs and it took centuries to put it all back together.. stuff like that.
But it sure does make me get off my backside and do dishes when I might leave them in the sink till the next morning.
I agree that I think this may be exploiting those with some serious mental illness. I suppose it's possible that it could wake up friends and/or family members to get others like them some help. That's good but still ...
Diana
. My mother had an obsession with toilet paper. She'd buy it by the 12 pack - it started a thousand years ago when there was a "toilet paper shortage". Right. To me, that was hoarding. What I see on that show is filth. Did you see the one where the woman lost her cats and they found the flat, fur carcasses in the house, under all her garbage??My house has been screwed up to the point that I was embarrassed - due to life events like when my son was in ICU for a month and all we did when we were at home was drop things where ever, hit the shower and hit the pillow; when the water heater rusted out and the basement flooded and everything had to go upstairs and it took centuries to put it all back together.. stuff like that.
But it sure does make me get off my backside and do dishes when I might leave them in the sink till the next morning.
I agree that I think this may be exploiting those with some serious mental illness. I suppose it's possible that it could wake up friends and/or family members to get others like them some help. That's good but still ...
Diana
MyVintageCocktail
VFG Member
I've never watched it, but just reading about it gives me the willies. Our house is messy, but not filthy, and we still have a lot of sorting to do from last time we moved. But I'm making progress....
But this does remind me of my brother. My dad was a packrat, so it must run in the family! But, my brother's house is a fire trap. I worry about him. There are so many papers and books on his coffee table you can't see it. Same with his kitchen table (though mine isn't much better right now!). I mean, there's not garbage all over the place, but such clutter! When I stay with him when I go up to NY myself, I always try to clean up a bit, but he doesn't like anybody sorting through stuff or moving things around too much. So, last time I stayed there, he was away (I had gone up to visit my critically ill other brother). And I threw out empty envelopes postmarked years ago, scrap paper with scribbles on them that I bet even he couldn't decipher, general junk in his bathroom (empty toothpaste tubes, shampoo bottles, etc.), bits of tin foil and stuff in his kitchen. Like "lost" silverware that's dirty and he can't find it to wash 'cuz it's under something.... And did some cleaning, and just general straighening up. Although it didn't make a big difference that I could tell, my nephew told my niece that it looked like "Dad cleaned up." Of course, she had to tell him it was me who did it and not his father.
It's awful, but how do you tell your own brother he has a problem? His feelings get hurt when people try to encourage him to clean up and get rid of stuff..... I honestly think he's lived with it for so long he doesn't see it. But I really worry about him.
But this does remind me of my brother. My dad was a packrat, so it must run in the family! But, my brother's house is a fire trap. I worry about him. There are so many papers and books on his coffee table you can't see it. Same with his kitchen table (though mine isn't much better right now!). I mean, there's not garbage all over the place, but such clutter! When I stay with him when I go up to NY myself, I always try to clean up a bit, but he doesn't like anybody sorting through stuff or moving things around too much. So, last time I stayed there, he was away (I had gone up to visit my critically ill other brother). And I threw out empty envelopes postmarked years ago, scrap paper with scribbles on them that I bet even he couldn't decipher, general junk in his bathroom (empty toothpaste tubes, shampoo bottles, etc.), bits of tin foil and stuff in his kitchen. Like "lost" silverware that's dirty and he can't find it to wash 'cuz it's under something.... And did some cleaning, and just general straighening up. Although it didn't make a big difference that I could tell, my nephew told my niece that it looked like "Dad cleaned up." Of course, she had to tell him it was me who did it and not his father.
It's awful, but how do you tell your own brother he has a problem? His feelings get hurt when people try to encourage him to clean up and get rid of stuff..... I honestly think he's lived with it for so long he doesn't see it. But I really worry about him.
connie
Alumni
I've never seen the show (I'm assuming it's on cable?) but I just met a horder last weekend.
My husband and I bought an antique Art Deco buffet/sideboard on Craigslist. We went to the woman's house to pick it up. The places was a mess and stuffed to the gills with stuff. The buffet was in the attic and there was just enough room to weave through all the junk to get it out the door. We had to wait a bit for the person who was helping us move the piece. We were making small talk to pass the time. I mentioned her nice built-in china cabinet. She said yes, that was one of the reasons she bought the place. Meanwhile, in the next room there was a 4-foot by 2-foot hole in her ceiling and pink insulation was falling through.
To make things even more interesting, the woman was a large animal vet and horse owner. She had served as a vet/official in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Apparently her ex-boyfriend had done either show jumping or eventing (there were pictures of both in the house) at those Olympics. She said normally she'd be down doing the Florida show circuit at this time of year. Instead she was living in a hovel. Hope she treats her horses better!
She definitely had some issues and was very up and down with us, nice one minute and nasty the next. Boy I was glad to get out of her house, I can tell you! At least we got a beautiful piece of furniture out of it.
My husband and I bought an antique Art Deco buffet/sideboard on Craigslist. We went to the woman's house to pick it up. The places was a mess and stuffed to the gills with stuff. The buffet was in the attic and there was just enough room to weave through all the junk to get it out the door. We had to wait a bit for the person who was helping us move the piece. We were making small talk to pass the time. I mentioned her nice built-in china cabinet. She said yes, that was one of the reasons she bought the place. Meanwhile, in the next room there was a 4-foot by 2-foot hole in her ceiling and pink insulation was falling through.
To make things even more interesting, the woman was a large animal vet and horse owner. She had served as a vet/official in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Apparently her ex-boyfriend had done either show jumping or eventing (there were pictures of both in the house) at those Olympics. She said normally she'd be down doing the Florida show circuit at this time of year. Instead she was living in a hovel. Hope she treats her horses better!
She definitely had some issues and was very up and down with us, nice one minute and nasty the next. Boy I was glad to get out of her house, I can tell you! At least we got a beautiful piece of furniture out of it.
I don't know that show, but I have seen other things like that on German TV here - there though a TV crew went in and cleaned the house out and re-decorated it - and got the hoarder psychological help. But it is extremely difficult to get these people out of this.
A few years ago, a Swiss journalist (he writes a column in the Sunday newspaper I read, which I really like to read) made a movie about him and his brother cleaning out their mother's house, who had been a hoarder without them knowing it, after she had died. It's not always easy watching, and it does take a special sense of humor sometimes, but I liked it anyway: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1027744/
In the end, this is also a pretty crazy family story.
I have a good friend whose father seems to have a tendency to hoard - just in one room, but he keeps books, newspaper articles, VHS tapes etc. etc. by the hundreds in there and keeps adding. His father is retired and he seems to keep everything that might be interesting to read or watch again, though I guess he probably doesn't read or watch any of it again... My friend says he dreads the day he'll have to clean out that "chamber of dread" as he calls it.
Karin
A few years ago, a Swiss journalist (he writes a column in the Sunday newspaper I read, which I really like to read) made a movie about him and his brother cleaning out their mother's house, who had been a hoarder without them knowing it, after she had died. It's not always easy watching, and it does take a special sense of humor sometimes, but I liked it anyway: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1027744/
In the end, this is also a pretty crazy family story.
I have a good friend whose father seems to have a tendency to hoard - just in one room, but he keeps books, newspaper articles, VHS tapes etc. etc. by the hundreds in there and keeps adding. His father is retired and he seems to keep everything that might be interesting to read or watch again, though I guess he probably doesn't read or watch any of it again... My friend says he dreads the day he'll have to clean out that "chamber of dread" as he calls it.
Karin
amandainvermont
VFG Member
What interest me is the "Pickers" show and how they often go to places that are owned by hoarders. It's sad to see the hoarders so unwilling to let go of real junk that has been in their yards for years. I tape the show and fast forward through a lot - painful. But my upstairs could turn into one of those places, so it is a warning for me and also a bit of an inspiration. It also prevents me from picking up every "good buy" I run into.
If I went to a bag sale, I would fill the bag with anything, to get my $1 worth. No more.
Those pickers would love my X - he was always bringing home things like generators that don't work, engines, etc. Several stalls in my barn are filled with that cr*p. Of course I was doing the same thing with vintage clothes.
If I went to a bag sale, I would fill the bag with anything, to get my $1 worth. No more.
Those pickers would love my X - he was always bringing home things like generators that don't work, engines, etc. Several stalls in my barn are filled with that cr*p. Of course I was doing the same thing with vintage clothes.