30-day ultimatum issued to owners of ‘deplorable’ home

COH & ACOA Joined: Jul 22, 2006 Posts: 2031 Location: Cabo

30-day ultimatum issued to owners of ‘deplorable’ Southie home http://bostonherald.com/news/regional/general/view.bg?articleid=1121086

Boston Herald

Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 11:57 am Post subject:

Let's talk about this article.

From the picture it looked like pure garbage. I know that some hoarders hoard garbage among other things, but to me for it to be hoarding, in the sense I've come to understand it, there needs to be some eliment of indecision about the future use of items, or a sentimental attachment, or the need to be surrounded by things one might possibly need some day. When there's an overabundance of these things, that's when the filth can ooze in because there's either too much stuff in the way to reach a broken toilet etc., or too much embarrassment about the clutter to allow a repair person inside.

I just don't gte the sense that this case is as much about hoarding as it is about apathy and laziness, and maybe some sort of substance abuse thrown in the mix.

Anyone else have an opinion?

Active Member Joined: Jan 24, 2007 Posts: 138

Hi Lisa,

Yes, that is what I derived as well. For people to automatically associate those who live in squalor as hoarders doesn't further our cause, in my humble opinion. My mother is the perfect example. She was a health-nut. She would not eat off of a dish she did not perceive as clean. We had tons of stuff, but we did not live in a "nasty" home. It's just that she had 600 of the same item when one would do. Also, she was/is big on recycling. And before she put one can or bottle or plastic bowl into a bag to be recycled, she thoroughly rinsed it so it would not attract bugs. I believe there are distinct differences between pure laziness and hoarding, although in certain cases they can overlap and as you mentioned before, the mere enormity of the hoard causes difficulty in maintaining cleanliness.

Scar

Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 8:49 am Post subject:

That is my wife and IL's too!

...and by all the press focusing on the "filthy" hoarder part, it doesn't help the "clean" hoarder and their families much at all. It just lets them say "we're not like those people"... when in fact, they are.

Active Member Joined: Jan 24, 2007 Posts: 138

Exactly, Island!

Active Member Joined: Feb 28, 2008 Posts: 123

My parents home looks like this along with the items my mother has hoarded. There are mountains of clothes along with garbage since the whole place is a pit none of the trash ever leaves. antiques are stacked on top of boxes with garbage in between.

Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 4:52 pm Post subject:

Bluanjel75,
Hi! (How's it going with senior services? Any new developments?) So, since your parents' house looks like the one in this article, what do you think the reasons are that the trash doesn't get put out? Is it a symptom of the hoarding or a byproduct of the hoarding? Meaning- the trash is a valuable as the stuff that's hoarded vs. there's so much stuff in the house that taking out the trash is just too overwhelming to do.

By the way... Parrotbay's good with pineapple, but Cuervo's better!!! imho funny, rofl