Late last night I turned on American Pickers. Why it’s so interesting to watch a couple of guys pick through other people’s junk is a mystery to me. But when I’m in the right frame of mind, I can sit and watch for hours.At the beginning of last night’s episode Mike and Frank visited some dude in one of the Carolinas that had five buildings to hold his collection. (Funny how on this show the people with tons of junk are called collectors instead of hoarders. I suspect there is a difference, but also that there’s a fine line between the two.) They emphasized that the man was a master at bargaining and wasn’t going to let any piece (they always leave off the last two words of that phrase: “of junk”) go without getting a fair price for it.Right away Frank pulls something from the piles of stuff and asks the man what he knows about it. The man obviously doesn’t remember where he got it, but since he’s been “collecting” for so long and has so much stuff, he makes an educated guess. Frank offers $150 for the piece, and the man hesitates at first, but then accepts.Nothing about the exchange was remarkable except for the item. Frank had just paid $150 for a round mirror, maybe ten inches in diameter, that looked like it had just come from some truck stop gas station bathroom that hadn’t been cleaned in decades. Had anyone asked me what that mirror was worth I would have guessed five dollars. Maybe ten since it had a swivel arm with which you could attach it to the wall.Yet Frank and the Carolina dude both agreed the item was worth $150. And actually, Frank thinks it’s worth much more because he’s going to sell it in his shop for probably twice that much.Who on earth is going to pay $300 for this mirror?And that got me thinking about worth.
While I might shake my head in disbelief that the mirror is worth $300, I only do so because it’s not worth it to me. No doubt someone who knows more than I do about disgusting bathroom mirrors might take a look at it and happily pony up three hundred for it.“What’s it worth?” is the basic question of our economy.Yet, even though all of us make decisions every day about whether something is worth a certain amount of money, how many of us actually put any thought into the worth of non-financial decisions?When you bite into that candy bar, is the flavor worth the needless sugar and calories you’re putting into your body? When you stay up late to finish watching that movie, was it worth the sleep you gave up? When you sat in your car and waited for the person in the second space in the parking lot to get into their car and leave, was the close proximity of that parking space worth the time you spent waiting and the exercise you’re not getting by walking a little farther?If we make hundreds of decisions about the worth of things each day, why don’t we think about worth more often? Most of the time, aren’t we just making these decisions without even thinking?It’s easy to say that something’s worth it, but what does that mean? What is it worth? Time? Effort? Sacrifice? Pain?These questions are easily answered when it comes to finances. The mirror’s either worth $300 to you, or it’s not. It’s easy to imagine the $300 you’re losing in exchange for the mirror.But how do you quantify whatever you’re losing to get something else when it’s all abstract? Something’s only worth whatever you’re willing to give up to get it. And if we’re constantly making choices (do I want to watch a show or read a book, sleep in or watch the sunrise, make a frozen pizza and save time, or make a pizza from scratch and have it taste better) that require evaluating the worth of something, would we make different choices if we thought about worth more often?It’s easy to say that something’s worth something, but unless you’ve stopped to think about what you’re giving up to get what you think you want, you don’t know if it’s worth it or not.And if you wouldn’t waste $300 without thinking, why are you making other decisions without thinking?PREVIOUS POST: Where's the Energy in Darkness?IF YOU LIKED THIS POST I BET YOU'LL ALSO LIKE: Somewhere Among Millions of Options, Perfection+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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