My mother was a Towelholic. I never understood her addiction, but it almost seemed like the response of a depression era kid growing up without some of the “luxuries†she enjoyed later in her life. One of the surprises we learned only after we had left home to face our own fears and addictions was that these prize possessions were kept in a chest-of-drawers in a spare bedroom. It was not just a surprise that she hoarded towels and squirreled them away, but that we could remember the almost knapless pieces of post-shower drying implements hanging in the bathroom when we were growing up. There was more lint in the clothes dryer filter than on the everyday towels. I vaguely recall being warned not to touch the “guest towels†when we had company.
Everybody has some form of obsessive behavior that can be humorously defined by appending the suffix “holic†to any word. I have confessed to being a Coffeeholic and that is probably a true addiction that may someday require intervention to save my life. Some people are dangerously close to legitimate addiction status by overuse of social media and smartphones. How could anyone totally in control of their actions crash their car into a house while texting? It happens. The BONG of a Facebook update will make the sanest person you know push a button to see the latest political rant or celebrity criminal atrocity. At work the Emailholics will get an adrenaline rush at the DING of an email arrival, but ignore a ringing phone. Somewhere the sense of priorities has gone astray.
We make light of these so-called addictions and dismiss them as frivolous, but the seriousness of their impact is really a sliding scale from harmless to deadly. True addictions are no joke. Where is the line that makes somebody go from annoyingly persistent to obsessive compulsive? It is so much easier to see it in others than to reflect internally on behavior. Anyone that has faced their demons to become clean and sober can tell you that the first step toward recovery is to recognize that there is a problem. Taking action to deal with it takes one step after another until there are no more setbacks and no turning back.
If I had to have an abusive parent, I was blessed to be abused by one who withheld towel softness from me as a child. I miss Mom and would give anything to have her with us. I think I would give her towels for every birthday and pretend that she was perfect.
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