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High Class Hoarder
They say the wealthy are different than you and me. That must mean
the very wealthy are nuts.
So I work for a very wealthy woman.
She pays me $15 to help her organize and manage her life. I thought I
would be making travel plans, keeping a calendar of events, handling
correspondence, etc. I should say, first, that she labels everything
with a labelmaker. So far I’ve helped her clean out her luxury car
(so she could give it to the dealer for a new one). In doing so, we
removed all the detritus that one accumulates in a car, things most
of us throw out. Not her. I put a single unwrapped toothpick into a
ziplock bag and then proceeded to label it “toothpick.” Because, you
know, it’s hard to recognize a toothpick through a clear ziplock bag.
From there, I sorted out her pantyhose, separating the ones that had
holes from the ones that don’t (while pulling the (dirty) underwear
from the entanglement. So I discard the ones with holes, right? Of
course not. They get folded neatly into a bag and what? Labelled
“Pantyhose with Holes.” (Found out later she calls the company and
demands new ones b/c these must be “defective”.)
Moving into the office, I needed to label the clear plastic box that
contained 350 pen caps belonging to 350 pens long since thrown away,
followed by labeling the clear plastic box containing 200 toothpaste
tube caps. You know, in case you lose the cap to your current tube.
Just a small sample of the very important tasks I do each day.
Now you might think she’s just a little off, right? She is as sane
and sharp as anyone you could meet. She is, simply put, a tightwad.
She will pay me $15 an hour to save a toothpick and torn pantyhose.
She’s lucky she has a 7,000 sq.ft. house because every cupboard,
closet, drawer and storage place is jammed with ancient newspapers,
magazines, broken this and used that. If she were poor, she would be
one of those people whose apartments had walkways through canyons of
stuff and she’d sleep, eat and live in a 4 foot area.
18 Comments to High Class Hoarder
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This story doesn’t surprise me at all. Some of the richest people can also be the cheapest. Never ceases to amaze me….
$15/hr to do mindless, easy work. Why are you complaining?
You may believe that she is as sharp and sane as anyone you meet, but she has a mental illness. Watch the TV show “Hoarders: Buried Alive” to understand more of this illness.
If anything, I honestly feel some sympathy for this woman. She has a problem and doesn’t seem aware of it. It seems that she only hires people who will write stories about her problem instead of people who may help her with it.
So what you’re saying is that your boss is sick, has a form of OCD, and pays you good money to help her manage through it?
Sorry if I’m not feeling too bad for you. $15.00 an hour to label things is a good gig for you.
Maybe you should try to understand why your boss is the way she is, and possibly help her overcome her OCD.
People like that have a mental condition. No, I am not saying that to be mean, it’s a real thing, you can look it up.
It does sound like you were paid pretty well for the work you did though. If you can deal with her issues and run a label maker, then I would say that it was not a bad job to have.
It definitely sounds like a form of compulsive behavior. As you say, probably her wealth has allowed her to continue to function relatively normally. From your perspective though, it doesn’t sound like a bad gig.
Her hoarding problem isn’t because she’s wealthy, it’s because she’s got a serious problem. Most of us who don’t have the problem think it’s stupid and not actually a mental disorder of sorts. Instead of writing a story on here, you should actually get your boss some real help.
Now you know how she got rich.
she’s a hoarder and that is a mental condition…she needs help. how does saving toothpaste caps make her a tightwad? you sound like an insensitive jerk.
The difference between crazy and eccentric is the amount of net worth. The more money you have the more eccentric you can be, the less money you have the crazier you become.
i would agree with the other commenters…if they had any intelligence to offer. watching A&E and TLC does NOT make you educated. go read a book.
Poor people have this sort of problem also. Wealth has nothing to do with it, other than allows her to have somebody like you to help her label stuff.
What’s with the wealth envy crap? Hate rich people? Want to be a poor person making $15 all your life? Don’t give into the brainwashing, being rich is pretty nice.
All of you people commenting need to SERIOUSLY lighten up. She had a mental condition? Who gives a shit. The author used words like “tightwad” to enhance the story for YOUR reading pleasure. Get off of his ass and appreciate the story for what it really is: funny. Isn’t that what this Website is all about? Get the sticks out of your asses.
How you must have suffered! Poor… OH just STFU. You got paid to work. Deal.
shes stupid. period. i dont care what ‘illness’ someone says she has. Have you ever just thrown something away or asked her why she keeps so much crap? i could never understand why some people who can afford a nice home and nice things would cram thier house full of crap and therefore not be able to enjoy thier home or their things…it seems like shes wasting more money on hiring you to help her save pantyhose than she would if she just threw the sh*t out!
Sounds like Jessica should take some of her own advice… Yowzers! PMS time?
I’m with Jessica. I don’t think the person who posted this was making fun of their boss or complaining. I think it was an entertaining story, plain and simple.
You’re complaining about being paid $15/hr to label things? Good gawd, wanna switch jobs w/ me? Seriously… I would be able to deal w/ labeling miscellaneous sh*t for $15/hr.