 Image by NWAW staff |
I made a big decision this Sunday. Should I give away my 32-inch television in my bedroom?
I have not turned it on once in the past three years.
At first, I told myself that I shouldn’t abandon it because I paid more than $700 for it in 2002. It still looked brand new.
I started playing the blame game. It’s the Internet’s fault. It has changed our lives so fast that people would rather watch programs on their computers. Nobody wants to buy obsolete stuff. The only place my TV belongs is in the donation pile at Goodwill.
Or I could find someone who could make good use of it. For that, I’d have to beg some strong men — my husband and son — to haul it out of my home and into a truck.
I also wonder, is this parting pain for people who gather junk? Am I becoming a hoarder?
My agony over whether to give it away or not was resolved when I saw the woman who sells us the fresh vegetables she grows in the Danny Woo Garden.
“Do you want a free TV?” I asked her.
“Yes, my kids don’t have to fight anymore,” said the single mom who lives in low-income housing in Chinatown/International District.
I was so happy when she said yes. “How about a bonus one, too? A small TV from my study room?” I said.
“That one will go to my brother’s home next door,” she said.
One woman’s junk is another woman’s treasure. ♦