How do you display your finds? I dont...
...Have you ever suddenly come into some money or otherwise hit it big? Maybe you just pulled out a handful of bills where others could see them. The first things most people say when hearing the news of your good fortune or seeing your wad is, " Hey, how about giving me some of that?" Or words to that effect.
It's the result of a common weakness among humanity, called "Avarice." Somewhat different from it's cousin, Greed, Avarice is more "tactical" and thus, tactile. For most it is simply a fleeting moment and they soon get over it. But for someone who is easily swayed by emotions of the moment, it can soon develop into a serious problem. The person who suffers from Avarice induced action normally has uncontrollable finger clutching and, in severe cases, hand wringing. These tactile, physical symptoms are invariably preceeded by more subtle indicators, the most prominent being eyes opened wide and mouth hung agape. Vocalisations, like "Ooooh" and "Ahhhhh," which escape uncontrolled from the victims mouth are also common signs of Avarice.
It is almost impossible to know who, indeed, does suffer from Avarice, as there are no other outward signs. Usually, the sufferer keeps the symptoms well hidden so as to blend in with society as a whole. If left to his or her own devices, however, the Avarice sufferer is soon taken over by the increasing physical desire to clutch and hold the item which triggered the onset of these symptoms. In characteristically rapid movements, the Avarice sufferer succumbs, snatching up whatever trigger object has brought on these urges. Eyes agleam, the Avarice victim himself is now fully in the grip of his obsession.
At this point, there is a progression from the base instinct of Avarice to a higher order mental state, one that is a product of long term social conditioning. This new state is called "Guilt." Knowing full well that the trigger item does not belong to him as property, the Avarice victim must now wrestle with the "Right From Wrong" decision that social conditioning has implanted in him. Eventually the poor Avarice sufferer gives in and succumbs to the final mental state brought on by the combined effects of Avarice and Guilt. We call this final state Greed Obsessive.
At this point there is an absolute inability to give up the object and return it to its original place or owner. The mind of the victim is wracked with conflict, but the overpowering compulsion of Avarice inspired Greed is too powerful, and the object is kept in his possession. However, Guilt constantly plays on the hapless victim and he knows that retribution is likely if he is discovered. This Guilt and his inability to control this violent downward spiral of events forces the Avarice-Greed Compulsive to hide the object away from sight, so as not to be discovered in his weakness.
To the outside observer all of this is seen to happen in as little as a few seconds, especially when dealing with long term sufferers of "AGCS" (Avarice-Greed Compulsive Syndrome). Unfortunately, the rapiditiy with which these symptoms occur makes AGCS almost beyond cure and there is little to be done for the victim.
Over the years, everything from electroschock treatments to drug therapies have been tried, but the only thing that has proven to be truly effective is the merciful removal of trigger objects from the victim's purview. Often this can be accomplished by the victim himself, by simply avoiding the places where he can be lured into action by trigger objects. However, this is no certainty to this, as trigger objects can be anywhere and are of various make. Any llist of such objects is bound to be long, but such everyday things as money, coins, jewelry and easily pocketed valuables are quite common trigger objects.
Since one cannot know with any degree of certainty who has AGCS, it is best to keep such things out of sight to avoid tempting the poor AGCS victim into action. Recommended places to keep trigger objects are boxes, safes, banks, hidden caches - virtually anyplace out of sight and mind of the AGCS victim. In this way, each of us can do our part to help the poor sufferers of this debilitating affliction and thus allow them to lead happier, serene lives.
This is why I dont display my finds. I'd hate to send some poor AGCS sufferer over the edge...
), my entire house is a shrine of sorts to my treasures. I've got rocks on windowsills and fossils on bookcase shelves and Indian artifacts on the desk and bottles sitting on glass shelves in one window (so the light can shine through them).
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