One Man's Trash...

I heard a comedian do a bit on drinking straws once. He talked about how a straw tries to embarrass you in important moments. When you go to take a sip, sometimes it forces you to chase it with your mouth and refuses to cooperate, making you look foolish. He ended the bit pretending like he was talking to a straw and said, “I don’t need you! You are a luxury item.”

Carpet. It’s a luxury item isn’t it? Don’t get me wrong. I am not trying to make anyone feel bad for having carpet. I had carpet in my apartment that was the ugliest color ever created. It was about 20-30 years old. When it was finally changed, not only did my environment brighten up, but I my attitude did too each morning when I put my feet down. It is soft on my feet and I most definitely enjoy and am thankful for it.

I was recently helping to remodel a dinning room of someone’s house. It struck me, as I watched the carpet be slashed and pulled up, that we must seem very wasteful to those who can’t afford it. Here we were, ripping up carpet and throwing it in the dump. Yes, the carpet was very old and worn. However, I couldn’t help but think of the homes I have seen in Romania, Kenya, and Ethiopia. Some of the people I have met there, would have loved to have what we were throwing it away. No doubt there are people down the street from each of us that would have loved that carpet too.

Carpet- A luxury item. It’s an expensive piece of fibers intricately woven together so we cushion our feet, keep them warm, and will make our rooms look socially acceptable. We work hard to make money and spend a good amount of it on this item of fibers and glue. Carpet is an interesting thing to think about. I am known to analyze things too much, and I realize that. In fact, I analyze that statement too, I suppose. However, I think carpet is one of those things that is definitely a luxury item. I guess it proves that old saying true, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”

In the Korogocho slum in Kenya, people ravage through the city dump site, for things..anything. They often hope to find bags. I’m referring to the plastic bags that grocery stores give us for free to carry our food. They find these bags and clean them off in the creek nearby. Then they sell those bags for food for their families. Recently I threw away an empty plastic soap bottle. I thought about how much that would mean to those living in the dump in Kenya. It would be such a rare find, a blessing, a way to buy some food. Something I considered garbage would mean so much to someone who had nothing. One man’s trash….another man’s treasure.