A while ago I discovered one of those big, rectangular, wheeled recycling bins, that people in the USA call ‘dumpsters’. I didn’t actually discover it, because they are everywhere and it was not in an unusual place; it wasn’t lost and unknown to the human race, like in an unexplored rainforest with arrows sticking out of it. It was at the back of some shops. I don’t, however, haunt alleyways and look slit-eyed in corners for opportunities. The back of these shops has a road that is a short-cut to somewhere else, which I sometimes use.
.
This particular bin is used by the British Heart Foundation Charity Shop for perfectly good stuff that, I suppose, they think they can’t sell; so they throw it away. I once found a lovely doll in there, very clean and in great condition, and thought about an unmet little girl that might like a doll, but money is too tight to mention for her family. So, I sat it on top of the edge of the bin. Half an hour later, I passed again, and it was gone. I looked in the bin and it wasn’t there. Yes! It worked! Someone, maybe even an adult, will be happy today! Even the giver will be happier! Success!
.
It is actually illegal, in the UK, to put in, or take out anything from, a bin, or skip, that is controlled by someone else. I don’t really think a judge would want to convict a good person though, and taking something out leaves more room for other stuff, doesn’t it? I think the ‘taking out’ bit of the law relates to something like using a skip for collecting recycled bricks that will be resold, something like that, or top soil, maybe.
.
‘You did willfully remove….a….children’s doll….. from a bin. A bin that you do not control or have responsibility for. How do you plead?’
.
‘Guilty, but I was trying to be kind and thoughtful.’
.
‘We are not concerned with kindness here today. We are measuring the degree of your criminality!’
.
I could hear someone in the gallery say, sotto voce, ‘That told him, nasty little thief.’
.
‘Yeah,’ said someone aloud, ‘Shout harder at him.’
.
Anyway, I went past the bin on another occasion and lo and behold, there were three little stuffed toys still with BHF price tags on; I think they were marked for just short of two British pounds each. I was on the way to Aldi, one of the cheaper supermarkets in the UK, and thought, ‘Outside Aldi would be a good place to leave them.’
.
Unfortunately, displacing the stuffed toys from an obvious salvaged position and placing them outside a supermarket invokes a different set of values in people; sadness. Because Aldi attracts, in the main I think, people with low and finite budgets for food, and because we have all heard about people sacrificing home heat for food. The people who saw the little stuffed toy animals probably thought that a young parent had spent what little money they have to make their child happy, and then forgot to take them home to the little one.
.
It got worse. I thought that it would be better to place the three little toys on a low wall next to the bus-stop so passers by would get a chance to take them home. So, I took them from the front of the supermarket and put them on the wall. It started to rain. I knew I had messed up when I saw a man walk past, look at them, and shake his head. HE probably thought that a child had been playing with the new toys and forgot them when they clambered onto the bus with their parent. He may have thought that the child would be sad that they had lost the little animals. I know the rain helped to convince him that he was right.
.
Of course, those toys were never bought from the charity shop by a parent or grandparent hoping to please a child. No-one had to count their money to check if they could afford them and still manage to feed the kids. No-one played with them and then forgot them. The only thing that happened was that someone, some time ago, had bought them new, they were gently played with, maybe washed, and then given to a charity shop to be resold, so someone else could get some pleasure. A kind person did that.
.
I spoiled it all. I rescued them from the bin and took them to a place where, when people saw them they became sad and empathic for something that never happened. I created sadness and pity by trying to be kind. I am not sure, but I think the Portuguese word, ‘Saudade’ fits this.
.
I am so sorry. I blundered into a situation and tried to shape it without even looking forward to see how things might unfold. I saw only one future; a future that I wanted to make for someone else. It all went terribly wrong.
.
I am so sorry. Really sorry.
.
'All rise'
.
'You are accused of willfully removing children's toys from a bin that is not controlled by you, or for which you have any responsibility. How do you plead?'
.
'Guilty.'
'
'Yes, yes. But that is not why we are here. Move on!', came a hungry voice from the gallery.
.
'Quite. You are further accused of attempting to shape a future of which you had no control of, beyond the initiation of it. How do you plead?'
.
'Get to the point, came another voice from the gallery.'
.
'Guilty.'
.
'We come now to the most heinous crime. You did willingly allow other humans to become saddened by your actions. In fact, you created a scenario that would, in all cases have caused sadness, because those people's pity and conscience would NEVER allow them to pick up and take toys that have been forgotten by poor children. How do you plead?'
.
'Guilty.'
.
' This court shall be lenient, despite this not being the first time you have appeared before me. You shall be pierced and feel emotional pain until such time as the court recognises you have amended your ways. You must, and I should not need to tell YOU this, consider the effect that your CLUMSY ACTIONS HAVE ON OTHER PEOPLE. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?'
I messed up
All my posts : https://learn1.open.ac.uk/mod/oublog/view.php?u=zw219551
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[ 5 minute read ]
.
Some Stuffed Toys
.
A while ago I discovered one of those big, rectangular, wheeled recycling bins, that people in the USA call ‘dumpsters’. I didn’t actually discover it, because they are everywhere and it was not in an unusual place; it wasn’t lost and unknown to the human race, like in an unexplored rainforest with arrows sticking out of it. It was at the back of some shops. I don’t, however, haunt alleyways and look slit-eyed in corners for opportunities. The back of these shops has a road that is a short-cut to somewhere else, which I sometimes use.
.
This particular bin is used by the British Heart Foundation Charity Shop for perfectly good stuff that, I suppose, they think they can’t sell; so they throw it away. I once found a lovely doll in there, very clean and in great condition, and thought about an unmet little girl that might like a doll, but money is too tight to mention for her family. So, I sat it on top of the edge of the bin. Half an hour later, I passed again, and it was gone. I looked in the bin and it wasn’t there. Yes! It worked! Someone, maybe even an adult, will be happy today! Even the giver will be happier! Success!
.
It is actually illegal, in the UK, to put in, or take out anything from, a bin, or skip, that is controlled by someone else. I don’t really think a judge would want to convict a good person though, and taking something out leaves more room for other stuff, doesn’t it? I think the ‘taking out’ bit of the law relates to something like using a skip for collecting recycled bricks that will be resold, something like that, or top soil, maybe.
.
‘You did willfully remove….a….children’s doll….. from a bin. A bin that you do not control or have responsibility for. How do you plead?’
.
‘Guilty, but I was trying to be kind and thoughtful.’
.
‘We are not concerned with kindness here today. We are measuring the degree of your criminality!’
.
I could hear someone in the gallery say, sotto voce, ‘That told him, nasty little thief.’
.
‘Yeah,’ said someone aloud, ‘Shout harder at him.’
.
Anyway, I went past the bin on another occasion and lo and behold, there were three little stuffed toys still with BHF price tags on; I think they were marked for just short of two British pounds each. I was on the way to Aldi, one of the cheaper supermarkets in the UK, and thought, ‘Outside Aldi would be a good place to leave them.’
.
Unfortunately, displacing the stuffed toys from an obvious salvaged position and placing them outside a supermarket invokes a different set of values in people; sadness. Because Aldi attracts, in the main I think, people with low and finite budgets for food, and because we have all heard about people sacrificing home heat for food. The people who saw the little stuffed toy animals probably thought that a young parent had spent what little money they have to make their child happy, and then forgot to take them home to the little one.
.
It got worse. I thought that it would be better to place the three little toys on a low wall next to the bus-stop so passers by would get a chance to take them home. So, I took them from the front of the supermarket and put them on the wall. It started to rain. I knew I had messed up when I saw a man walk past, look at them, and shake his head. HE probably thought that a child had been playing with the new toys and forgot them when they clambered onto the bus with their parent. He may have thought that the child would be sad that they had lost the little animals. I know the rain helped to convince him that he was right.
.
Of course, those toys were never bought from the charity shop by a parent or grandparent hoping to please a child. No-one had to count their money to check if they could afford them and still manage to feed the kids. No-one played with them and then forgot them. The only thing that happened was that someone, some time ago, had bought them new, they were gently played with, maybe washed, and then given to a charity shop to be resold, so someone else could get some pleasure. A kind person did that.
.
I spoiled it all. I rescued them from the bin and took them to a place where, when people saw them they became sad and empathic for something that never happened. I created sadness and pity by trying to be kind. I am not sure, but I think the Portuguese word, ‘Saudade’ fits this.
.
I am so sorry. I blundered into a situation and tried to shape it without even looking forward to see how things might unfold. I saw only one future; a future that I wanted to make for someone else. It all went terribly wrong.
.
I am so sorry. Really sorry.
.
'All rise'
.
'You are accused of willfully removing children's toys from a bin that is not controlled by you, or for which you have any responsibility. How do you plead?'
.
'Guilty.'
'
'Yes, yes. But that is not why we are here. Move on!', came a hungry voice from the gallery.
.
'Quite. You are further accused of attempting to shape a future of which you had no control of, beyond the initiation of it. How do you plead?'
.
'Get to the point, came another voice from the gallery.'
.
'Guilty.'
.
'We come now to the most heinous crime. You did willingly allow other humans to become saddened by your actions. In fact, you created a scenario that would, in all cases have caused sadness, because those people's pity and conscience would NEVER allow them to pick up and take toys that have been forgotten by poor children. How do you plead?'
.
'Guilty.'
.
' This court shall be lenient, despite this not being the first time you have appeared before me. You shall be pierced and feel emotional pain until such time as the court recognises you have amended your ways. You must, and I should not need to tell YOU this, consider the effect that your CLUMSY ACTIONS HAVE ON OTHER PEOPLE. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?'
.
'Yes, your Honour.'
.