My nephew's pull list comment made me question my whole collecting habit
Last Sunday my 16 year old nephew came over and saw 6 short boxes in my closet. He asked why I keep buying floppies when I could just read them online. I told him it's about the feel, the smell, the cover art. He said, "So you're paying $4 an issue to store paper you barely re-read?" I tried to argue but then I looked at my pull list. I had 14 titles this month. I've maybe re-read 2 of them in the last 5 years. He wasn't being mean, just honest. I'm not quitting floppies, but I did cut down my list to 6 titles and started donating old issues to the local library in Portland. Has anyone else had a younger reader make them rethink their monthly picks?
...and honestly that kid did you a favor. I did the same thing about five years back when I realized I was spending almost sixty bucks a month on books I was bagging and boarding out of habit, not love. What worked for me was setting a hard rule: if a title hasnt made me want to reread an issue by the time the next one drops, it gets cut. No exceptions. I went from twelve titles down to five and honestly the five I kept are the ones I actually look forward to on Wednesdays. The library donation thing is smart too. It turns the guilt of hoarding into a reason to keep a few good ones. You might even find you enjoy the hobby more now that its smaller, cause every issue actually means something again.