Could We Replace all this Excess with Access?

We have all thought about something that we wish we had, especially while in college. College freshmen and their parents consult countless websites and lists from Bed Bath & Beyond extolling the needs of every incoming college student. Clearly, these lists were made by profit-hungry business people and not logical, clutter-fearing folks.

via Pixabay

These preprinted list, available right by the entrance with oversized shopping carts list items that we have no use for, yet we do not realize it until the school year is over. Some of these line items include a comforter AND a blanket AND a quilt. Am I shopping for Goldilocks here? Too hot? Too cold? Just right?

For my entire freshman year, I had a small pack of stamps that I never used, because I never mailed anything to anybody (although I did love getting mail). I had my passport as well, which ended up becoming highly unnecessary. I already had my personal ID in my wallet, so what was the point of carrying something that is only required for international travel? Where did I think I might be going at a moment’s notice?

I also had racquetball equipment that I never had the time to use, and it did not help that the closest racquetball court was pretty far from my dorm (plus I needed to find someone that ALSO had a racquet if I wanted to play). I even had a first aid kit, and while I do recall one or two instances where someone in my dorm hall did require minor medical attention, not only was I personally unqualified to provide that help, but I also doubt that the person who required the help would have accepted it from me.

I also had a case of Ramen noodles, 24 packs to be exact (what college student did not?). They served their purpose, but after eating six of them, I never wanted to have Ramen noodles ever again.

There was also a zip drive that I never had any use for, and something called a “mobile external hard drive” that I HAD to but for a class. Not only do I still have no idea what that means, but it was also very expensive and barely used. I also had a large stack of loose leaf paper that I never needed, since I typed up all of my class notes on my laptop. You have to admit though that loose leaf paper is a classic “back-to-school” supply.

via Pixabay

The only thing worse than having things that you do not need is lacking things that you do need. For example, although I did own noise-canceling headphones, they really only seemed to cancel noise when I was actually listening to something with them, so calling them “noise-canceling” seemed a tad too generous. I also wish that I had snow boots that did not need to be laced up like a spiderweb every time I put them on, nor weighed me down when I trekked through the Syracuse snow in them.

If we care to venture into the “not invented but wish it was” category, it also would have been much appreciated to have something that would reduce the amount of time and effort of commutes to classes, like a teleporter, travel mechanism or a genie. “Beam me to class, Scotty.”

The worst thing for a student to have is clutter, and while I certainly never ran short on space in my dorm room (guys just don’t have as much stuff as girls), I would have loved to replace a lot of my useless items with things that actually served a purpose. Here is a great idea, HGTV should do a show about dorm rooms and how to make the most of them! I can be in their first episode!