The word “addiction” almost always has a negative connotation. I have a theory that everyone is addicted to something. While I believe that not all addictions are bad, I believe that any addiction can be both good and bad.
Take me, for example. I love to collect books. I also love to read them, but I find as much or more joy in the collecting. I learned on Jeopardy! there is a Japanese term for this—“tsundoku”.
When I was in school, I loved everything about the library, especially the smell. Books are like people—some smell new and fresh, others old and used. Leather bindings have a smell that is foreign to other book coverings, and paperback books have a different smell and texture than more expensive hardback counterparts.
I cannot remember the time that I didn’t want a library of my own. I set a goal to have my own home library, and I wanted it to be bigger than the Maynardville Elementary School library. My desire was so great that as a child I drew pictures of the spines of hardback books on shelves and stuck them to my bedroom wall.
I am happy to say that while my home library might not yet be as big as Maynardville Elementary’s was in my youth, I at least have achieved my goal of having a personal home library. I even achieved the dream of owning a building large enough to house my entire collection. At least it did for a time.
Problems? A few. Now I have so many books that I am outgrowing my twenty- by thirty-foot refuge (some would call it “man cave”, but that term lowers the dignity of a “library”). I need more room. How to get it? Build or purchase. Wait until debt free or go deeper in debt? Ah, the choices.
Personally, book collecting can be a negative addiction for me if I go so deep in debt that I deprive myself of the necessities of life, or place myself in such a financial bind that I increase my stress level to the point that I become unhealthy. It could also be a problem if I become a book “hoarder” to the point that my life is endangered because of falling stacks of books or insect/rodent infestation due to being unable to adequately keep the library clean.
I received an electronic commercial in my email today that discussed “surprising addictions” (https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/ss/slideshow-surprising-a…, Retrieved April 25, 2022). Believe it or not, one addiction that was not discussed at all was book collecting. I did not find that surprising. The one item that did surprise me was “plastic surgery” due to “body dysmorphic disorder”. If Kenny Rogers were still living, he might be an interesting study for this condition. I seem to remember that Dolly Parton once said that she favored anything that could be “nipped” or “tucked”. Obviously for some it works, but not for others.
The other things on the list did not surprise me. It has come to the point with Smartphones/social media that a person can’t hardly shake hands with attendees at some churches because members of the congregation have death grips on their phones. I myself have changed over the years from a person who would not even own a cell phone to an individual who turns around and goes back home when he forgets it.
Caffeine was also on the list. I do not remember when I started drinking coffee. I know as young child that I rarely ate breakfast but always drank one cup of instant coffee each morning, the only kind available in our house. Mine had to be made with half a teaspoon of instant coffee mix, dissolved in half a cup of hot water, finished off with cold, so the final product was lukewarm. By the end of my high school years I graduated to one cup (same recipe) after supper (up from one to two cups a day). When I began college, I bought a solid brown, heavy coffee mug (I still have it on one of my library shelves) and took a small pot to heat water for my instant coffee. Many mornings my undergraduate college breakfast consisted of cold pepperoni pizza from the night before and a cup of lukewarm instant coffee. The size of the teaspoon increased during the four years so that I was up to a full, heaping teaspoon by graduation.
My tastes have changed over the years. Somewhere along the way I lost my taste for instant coffee, but never for lukewarm. Now I begin my day at home with a cup of coffee made in nothing else but a Keurig®. Most days at home there are two cups of coffee, one to begin the day, another toward the end. At work I drink more than my fair share of a pot of coffee each day, made in a Bunn coffeemaker.
I never thought I was addicted to caffeine, though I proved it to myself. I at one point had a kidney/bladder/urinary tract (who knows?) condition. I was advised that caffeine stimulated my discomfort, so I stopped drinking coffee “cold turkey”. I wouldn’t have believed it had I not experienced it, but at noon each day, no matter where, no matter the situation, my head started hurting. It turned out that abstaining from coffee neither helped nor hurt my condition, only gave me the added discomfort of a headache, so I decided to be miserable with caffeine as opposed to being miserable without.
Chocolate and other sweets also made the list of addictions. In my younger days I could by myself eat a box of Whitman’s Sampler® assorted candies in two days. I could also consume a paper bag of 100 “penny suckers” in a single afternoon. I probably still could, but Type II has made its debut, so even if I indulged, I couldn’t enjoy the experience for fear of the pending complications of diabetes. (Interestingly, until Type II I never craved pecan pie. Now pecan pie is second only to lemon meringue, and I find it impossible to ignore lemon meringue).
Shopping made the list of addictions, but unless shopping for books I am untouched by this particular malady. I also have no desire to gamble. While I enjoy healthy tans on others who exercise to maintain their physiques, I have little desire to either suntan or exercise.
It did not surprise me that sex made the list of addictions, but it did surprise me that it was listed tenth of ten. Other than sharing a vague joke or two about sex from my world of email at the end of this article, I will exercise the Victorian practice of abstaining from discussing this particular topic with you, Dear Reader.
A question was posed in the online article mentioned above, “How does addiction start?” I quote the possibly accurate but seemingly non-scientific answer below:

Anything that alters your mood can become addictive. It begins as self-medication to help you manage pain. The reward you get when you see that text message pop up, find the perfect pair of shoes, or roll a lucky seven makes you want more. That becomes something you can't live without.

A question was also asked, “Are all addictions the same?” The article stipulates that experts don’t agree about this and advises that those who feel they have habits that are out of control should consult a doctor or therapist.
At this point, Dear Reader, I leave you to your own addictions. My wish for you is that you control your addictions, whether good or bad, in ways that are most beneficial to you and those with whom you come in contact. If you need advice, you can reach out to me. If you need good advice, perhaps you’d better consult one of the professionals mentioned above. I might be busy with my own addictions/consultations when you call.

"Smoking kills. If you're killed, you've lost a very important part of your life."
-- Brooke Shields, during an interview to become
spokesperson for federal anti-smoking campaign

They Walk Among Us
My colleague and I were eating our lunch in our cafeteria,
when we overheard an admin girl talking about
the sunburn she got on her weekend drive to the beach.
She drove down in a convertible,
but said she 'didn't think she'd get sunburned
because the car was moving'.

Trust science.
Studies show that if your parents didn’t have children
there’s a high probability you won’t either.

So, you drive across town,
to a gym,
to walk on a treadmill???

Long gone: Pshaw. The milkman did it.

They say we can have gatherings with up to eight people without issues.
I don't even know eight people without issues.

Dr. Oz says rubbing coffee grounds on your naked body will get rid of cellulite.
Apparently, you can't do this in Starbucks.
And now the cops are here.

Never sing in the shower!
Singing leads to dancing,
dancing leads to slipping,
and slipping leads to paramedics seeing you naked.