A couple of months ago, I was watching from my balcony how my neighbors across the street were clearing out their house. They were going to rent it out to the alcoholic bookstore owner from around the corner. One thing that caught my eye was a rattan room divider. I have always wanted a room divider, since they make your room look really oriental and exotic.
So, I ran downstairs to my husband and pointed out the rattan screen. His reaction was twofold. “What are you going to do with a room divider?” and “You know how possessive these people are, they even have trouble flushing to toilet! You’ll never get it”
Across the street I spoke with a toothless man who was hired to pick up the stuff and bring it to the dump. He laughed at my request for the screen divider and was glad to have a little less to load onto his vehicle. I was so happy! My husband a little less. How could I ask for the single most ugly and dirty object that was standing outside the house? He was right. It was the dirtiest thing amongst the junk. I went back and tried to get a little wooden side table as well. But the toothless giver would not give anymore.
That week I had been thinking about giving. It is a topic that keeps returning to me. I love to give something away and make others happy. Everybody does. But just like everybody (including my neighbors) I prefer to give something that is useless to me. Especially if I received it from a giver to whom the object was even more useless. The point is that if something is useless to me, it still might be priceless to someone else.
Thinking about all this giving and receiving must have stirred something in the universe, because since then I was given a baby stroller (my third one and therefore useless) and a bunk bed (which made two twin beds useless). And I was able to pay it all forward and give my things to someone who is more in need than I am.
Mark Twain
The room divider? After putting it in the shower for a few times, keeping it in the bathroom, brushing it with a strong brush, and spraying it with lacquer, it is the loveliest thing ever and displayed in my living room.
And the toothless giver? I have never seen him again.
