The “reality” show Storage Wars follows scavengers who purchase the contents of storage units that have apparently been left behind by the content owners. Perhaps the contents had been abandoned, or the owner passed away and left no record that the contents were there. What appears to be the more common reason is that the owners were no longer able to afford the monthly rental costs.
The show proudly proclaims: “If you don’t pay your bills, they’ll take your stuff.”
The Bureau of Labor Statistics, in its August 5, 2011 report, revealed that unemployment in the United States was at a staggering 9.1% or 13.9 million Americans. There are also many who have been laid off from a higher paying job and have been forced to take a position that pays substantially less than they were earning. Still more work for a company that has frozen wages for 2 years or 3 years while costs continue to rise around them.
These situations, among others, cause our neighbors, these members of our community, to make hard decisions. Some have to choose between health care and food, others have to decide which will be paid first: the car payment and utilities or the rent.
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Many have lost their homes due to eviction or foreclosure. Further problems arise when a smaller dwelling has to be found and the household and personal items that did not fit in the new home have to be placed in storage.
This now adds another financial burden for a family that is already troubled.
Many of the possessions placed in storage include personal items such as family photos that the owners had wanted to share with their children and their children’s children. Little trinkets that have no resale value but are priceless when a 5 year-old proudly gives his parents a hand print made in school. Christmas ornaments and decorations the children hand-crafted will no longer bless the season. Old relics from the family history are nothing more than garbage to the highest bidder.
I find it pitiful when people find pleasure in preying on the hardships of others. It is my hope that the storage establishments make every effort to contact the storage content owners before anything is ever auctioned and the lives of families who are already hurting do not have to suffer even more than they already are.
Another consideration is the possibility of any sensitive legal and financial information that may have been placed in what appeared to be a safe place. The damages from this information leaking can further add to the family’s problems.
I know of one particular family that this happened to. The contents were auctioned and the owner was not even aware of the situation. The storage company claims to have sent a registered letter, but the storage container renter on the contract never received it. The renter had also previously received emails from the storage company, so they knew the email address, but the company never used it.
In this case, the story is about those who are simply not able to pay their bills and the inability of the storage company to take all measures to inform the rightful owner that a devastating situation is looming. Everyone finds pleasure in different things. But to find personal pleasure in digging through and throwing away part of a family’s lifelong history is hideous.