While most guys Jon’s age are paying mortgages, car payments, utility bills, giving lunch money to their teenager or buying diapers for their toddler, he is spending his money on very distinctive things.

His forays into the lengthy aisles of the dollar store are fascinating and always leave me with a sense of wonder over what interests him.

Jon’s recent list of purchased items consisted of:
•A pitchfork shaped glow stick – that’s sort of cool actually.

•A greeting card he will not send to anyone – he will write non-readable things on it and carry it around for a while.

•A bundle of girls plastic hair bands – sometimes he wears them but mostly uses them for holding his stuff together, maybe wrapping one around three stuffed animals or last week’s newspaper confiscated from the recycle bin.

•A bag of chips, two Kraft snack packs of bread sticks with cheese dip and an oversized Hershey bar – food is always a good choice. 

•A package of brightly colored Mardi Gras beads – no idea what he does with them. 

•A package of ponytail elastics – uses these to hold things together and also wears them on his wrists or ankles.

•A drinking glass -?? like we don’t already have a cupboard full of those?

•A plastic sword – adding to his array of Karate/Ninja chopping items. 

•Three sets of collectors cards, NBA and baseball – never watches sports so….??

•A spy kit – probably spying on me so he can hide next time he sees me coming with a clean shirt for him to put on.

There were more items that I don’t remember but you get the idea.  The entire accumulation totaled $20. Whatever isn’t edible will end up on the floor in his room, in his shorts pockets or in a grocery bag in the back seat of the car next time we go out.

If Jon lived alone we would definitely be watching him on an episode of the TV reality show, Hoarders, and he would probably be sporting the striped beach towel cape (a towel with holes cut out on each side to put your arms through) that he designed and tried to wear into the dollar store. 

Maybe he should try out for Project Runway instead or the next Batman film.