Get your jar of sauce, then throw it away

I got a signed poster for Christmas from the director of a movie I really loved. It was the 2nd time in less than 6 months I'd gotten an autographed poster from the same director. I like him a lot, but I don't really personally know him, I've never met him, and it's certainly not the best thing about the movies he makes.<br><br>One time, I was a day late paying rent because I wanted to pay for a poster from him instead. Another time I paid extra for a head in the box edition of the movie (a fairly expensive edition) signed by him. Now I have two posters, each one signed and dated, as well as one other poster that's signed but not dated.<br><br>I never put them up. I never look at them. I've never even taken them out of the plastic bag I got them in or unfolded them. They're two of 5 copies of the same image that I own. The others are on t shirts, stickers, and a wooden box with a cardboard lid.<br><br>I've never actually met him, and I've never seen any proof that he's actually the one signing it. The people throwing their money at him have paid for a studio, a camera, and at least 20 people to create the movie (and that's a very low number). I'm one of however many times 10s of thousands of people who preordered a $100 poster so that I could pretend I know him.<br><br>He's probably signed 1000s of those things by now, yet I still have them in bags in my closet. I'm going camping at the end of the week and I still haven't put them up.<br><br>I'm not alone. I've met dozens if not hundreds of other people who have spent thousands on posters, head in the box editions, and signed studio jar merchandise. Most of them have never actually met him before. None of them have ever actually used the merchandise they've purchased for what it was intended for.<br><br>I've been thinking about this lately and I've come up with a realization. I'm not camping with posters. I'm going camping with my friends. I'm not going to impress them with a signed poster or a head in the box edition. I'm going to impress them by showing them what a great person I am, and that's only going to happen if I can actually afford to go camping at all.<br><br>I'm so sick of paying thousands of dollars for merchandise I don't need for a movie I can't afford to go to anymore. I'm sick of shelling out hundreds of dollars for a poster from a person I don't know. I'm sick of people judging me for spending money on something fun when they could be spending money on things they actually need. I'm sick of pretending like I'm better than everyone else because I know jar better than they do.<br><br>I'm going to throw both of them away. I'm not going to buy signed posters anymore. I'm never going to waste thousands of dollars on head in the box editions ever again. I'm going to spend my money on things that actually matter. I'm going to have fun with my friends and enjoy the beauty of nature. I'm going to stop pretending like I'm better than everyone else and I'm going to stop judging people for spending money on fun.<br><br>Get your jar of sauce, then throw it away.