I don't think a lot of money has been spent to scientifically pinpoint if being a "vintie" is genetic or learned. Are you born with it in you or is it nurtured over the years? (a tongue in check reference to another more sociological debate...but thought it fitting ) I often wondered what makes me want to sometimes get up at the crack of dawn to find a "hidden treasure" as "junkpalace" stated in an earlier post, sort through other peoples junk and display or sell finds like a trophy from an archeological dig? Well I got to thinking ...do I do it for the money, the thrill of the search, the thrill of a "find". I guess the answer is a bit of all three but I think I have been trained to do so from an early age from my father. Some background: My father was a garbage man when I was just a young boy into my teens. He would get up at 5AM every morning. I can still hear the sound of a spoon clinking in a coffee cup coming from the kitchen which let me know he was off to work and what I had thought at the time, on his way to find some cool stuff. I didn't think of him as a garbage man, I thought of him as a treasure hunter. We lived in an affluent area (although we were NOT rich) and he would often come home from work with a box full of goodies, ranging from old watches, electronics, sterling silver, to cool books. I would run out of the house just about every day when I heard his car come up the drive way I would run to greet him shouting "What did you find today?". I was amazed at what people would throw out and think to myself even at 7 years old we could never actually afford to buy the stuff that people threw out in the garbage as if it had no worth or meaning. There were some days where at 5AM he would come into my room on a Saturday morning and ask me if I wanted to go to work with him. He didn't know that I was already wide awake...just hoping he'd come in and do just that. I would literally jump out of bed, throw my clothes on, trembling with excitement at the prospect of "the hunt" and the fact that I was going to get to ride in a garbage truck which to me at the time seemed to be the size of a small house. Sometimes he would even let me pull the lever that made the huge compacting arm come down and sweep the garbage into the belly of the truck or sometimes he'd let me ride on the back if I held on tight. Years later I remember once my father found a working OMEGA watch. Yes...someone actually threw out a watch worth thousands of dollars...crazy. I wore it to school one day not knowing what it was and the teacher noticed me wearing it and became suspicious probably wondering what a 12 yo. is doing wearing such a valuable watch!! The teacher asked me where I got it and told him my father "found it in the garbage and gave it to me". Of course the teacher now thought I was a liar and called my parents only to be told exactly what I told him. It was a found on one of my fathers "treasure hunts". I loved the fact that my father "had my back" and told the truth to my teacher, which left him (the teacher) a bit flabbergasted. In my teen years, when image was everything, I became less interested in my fathers work. When other kids dad's were doctor's and lawyers, I found it difficult to say my father was a "garbage man" and run the risk of being teased. Admittedly I was ashamed and wished that he were a doctor, or a lawyer or a banker who commuted into the city by train everyday and wore a suit. Now as an adult, I am so proud of what my father did as it taught me things that cannot be learned in school. He taught me to get up early if you want to find the good stuff and that some peoples trash TRULY is someones else's treasure! My father is still alive and I thank him all the time for his help in making what I am. SO long story short...if you got this far..I think being a treasure hunter is nurture..not nature and although I have "real" job, I always consider myself to be a "garbage man" at heart.
Orignal From: OT- Vintage collector/seller. Nature or Nurture? (long post...)
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