Am I a trash can?
I took a speaker set out of my bag.
"Ashish, It is for you. One of the speakers needs a wire tightened, but you could fix it with your soldering iron."
He was delighted and received it as if he got some treasure. His delight confused me. I couldn’t understand why he was so excited to get an old speaker set.
"Hey Sheeja, Abi gave me a gift", He said to one of our colleagues.
"Gift?"
I was bewildered by the incorrect usage of the word. Exaggerations and distortions of our understanding of the world always trouble me.
"How can you call it a gift?" I questioned him. What is the right word to describe this action? I started contemplating.
It was my old speaker set. I had tried to get it repaired, and eventually I bought a better speaker set.
I get rid of anything which is not essential to my day to day life. If the item is valuable, I prefer to give it to my friends or acquaintances. Otherwise I throw it in the garbage. I don’t think the speaker set is valuable, and we are not supposed to throw electronic waste away; electronic waste should be properly recycled to avoid damage to the environment. I don’t think this item is in a good condition to give to anyone, but I can’t throw it away either.
These were not just my thoughts, but I was thinking out loud and Ashish was listening. My reasoning ceased when I realised the glow disappeared from his face.
An alarm went off in my mind. Have I said something stupid? I quickly realised If I continued my reasoning, I would be led to conclude that I used him as a trash can to dispose of my electronic waste. Oh, God, that is so offensive! I couldn't come up with the right word, and I became desperate to get out of the trouble.
“Yeah, yes, You can call it ... It’s my gift for you!”