kleptomania.........?

When I was a young child - thats age 5 - I began to collect McDonald's hash brown papers, very meticulously. I liked the way they looked. I had to have them. Soon I progressed to fri boxes and clothing tags -- thats the kind you rip out naturally AND the kinds you are supposed to keep for washing and identification. I even liked the plastic tag ties. I kept them In a box. I stole tags from my sister and friends when they werent looking. And I had to hide the McDonald's boxes, carefully sneaking them away from the kitchen. Later, I collected baby-wipe boxes full of mica rock. I liked to pause in peoples driveways for this.

I also had an affinity for paper clips and staples and anything plastic bag-ish. Now that Im some 10 years older I prefer Styrofoam cups for my coffee which my dad keeps taking so I have to take them back.

My sister, you know, steals all kinds of government-issued pamphlets and parental-informative books from her school. She gives these back but she keeps the Ayn Rands. I myself have taken a liking to Encyclopedias and Almanacs for the keeping and I cant lie and say I dont like to shoplift. Not to mention my father as a child commandeered library books; he just ignored the angry mail-letters he received and still has them today.

So, are we a family of kleptos of what?