Allston Christmas

It's that time of year again. If you live in Boston, August 31 and September 1 marks the annual return of college students and apartment turnover. Boston's streets get blocked by moving trucks and the sidewalks get littered with the discarded remains of the student's apartments. A dozen years ago, I lived on a one way side street off of Commonwealth Ave. that always became inaccessible from the last day of August until the second day of September. My sister got married one year on Labor Day weekend. (Happy anniversary, Carrie and Bernd!) It was so nice to escape not being able to get to my home that year that I decided that I should leave town for this weekend every year.

Boston.com has dubbed the ability to trash pick the sidewalks for the student's abandoned items as Allston Christmas with a witty poem written in the style of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. I like how they work in the street names of BU's student ghetto that remind me of my BU days. If you don't mind used stuff, you can take your pick of abandoned microwaves and furniture. Please stay away from the used mattresses and bedding that may come with pet bed bugs. The city is even going around and putting stickers on abandoned furniture warning about the risk of bed bugs.

I read an article this week about a woman, Katy Wolk-Stanley, in Oregon who has not bought anything new in five years except for the following list of items:

• Underwear, socks and bras (I totally agree with this one. Used unmentionables. Gross!) 
• Personal care items (makeup, etc.)
• Food (Duh, I don't see how you could avoid buying food for five years unless you are a vegetarian living on a self sustaining farm.)
• Harmonicas??

Katy chronicles her journey not to buy anything new on her website, The Non-consumer Advocate. In the article she says, "The tagline for my website, The Non-consumer Advocate, is 'Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without,' which I take seriously. I try very hard to fix instead of replace, accept that not every one of my possessions has to be the very best, and accept that my family can live without the luxuries than many of our friends take for granted."

She goes on in the article to say that deciding not to buy anything has changed her perspective on her stuff. She finds it freeing that with less stuff to maintain and clean she now has more time to spend with family and friends. I know that cleaning out a closet or basement and seeing how much unused clutter I have does open my eyes that I don't really need the things that seem so important while I'm shopping. Still, I know that I would not be able to meet the challenge to not buy anything new.

In a related article, Stephanie Becker, the producer of Katy's Today Show segment chronicles her life as a bargain hunter. She said that she was pleasantly surprised about the quality of Katy's furniture and home when they visited her. She goes on to describe how shopping for bargains or "antique-ing" was passed down in her family. She ends by mentioning with pride the $12 Neiman Marcus dress that she found at a thrift store and wore to the Daytime Emmy Awards.

To me, this just shows that everyone has to decide for themselves their own standard for acquiring used items. I don't have any furniture that I picked up at Allston Christmas, but some of my favorite pieces of furniture were handed down to me from the previous generations. We have a rocking chair that family folklore claims was made from a tree in my great grandfather's yard. Whether this is true or not, I love the history of this chair and knowing that previous generations rocked in it. So, whether you enjoy Allston Christmas (Avoid those bedbugs!) or not buying anything new for five years, find your own level of comfort with used items.  Merry Allston Christmas!