One man's garbage...

Life has been a little frenetic recently and after travelling to the eastern U.S. for meetings, I had three days at home before heading out to the U.K.

I just managed to beat the “Beast From The East” as it slams in to the southern U.K. shores to deposit copious amounts of snow (relatively).

In between the two trips, I had a few days to rest at home in Kaslo. As I travel, particularly when I am on flying car business, I get to see an affluent side of life. The perspective I am privileged to witness in Kaslo is enough keep me grounded.

In perusing the local Kaslo Buy and Sell group recently on Facebook, I could not quite believe what people were selling with a price tag associated with it. 

Having recently moved from Kelowna, Habitat for Humanity was a massive benefactor during our move. They were also a personal saviour - all the stuff I couldn’t (or didn’t want to) fit in to my moving truck. 

On reflection, I realize now that all of the items I gave away that I thought had no value, and indeed probably had no value in the Kelowna area, had a very tangible value in Kaslo.

Looking at an advert for a pair of old metal framed chairs that a church might have used 40 years ago I realized that the half dozen I had thrown away in Kelowna actually had a value of $30 each in Kaslo… bizarre.

Then, I also realized that all  the more expensive rubbish I had taken to Kaslo probably had no value to anyone in the community if I sold it.

This little mountain town has an odd way of keeping everything real.

In Kaslo, some people might tell you how proud they are about how little they spent purchasing their crappy boat.

In Kelowna, people would comment on your crappy boat and made sure you were aware how much they had spent on their rather expensive boat. 

The only boat I like is the one you pay cash for.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.