The Missing Step

It's funny how we take the simplest things for granted. Maybe that's why we do, because they're simple.

We could take public transport to work and school most days but still expect delays or breakdowns to happen every now and then. Same said for the elevators and even lightbulbs. We reconcile our displeasure when these things don't work by blaming other people, the weather and recognizing there are many parts to the whole device or operation.

So it's hard to come to terms with the simplest things that no longer work. Yesterday the foot pedal dustbin in my kitchen no longer connected to its foot pedal. This was the result of a fall the dustbin had, of an elevated position for drying. So the basic lever operation of step-down and lid-pops-up was dead. We were at a loss. The mishap meant we had to now, heaven forbid, bend down to lift the lid of the bin to make a dirty deposit. Bend?! Shock and horror to the body. All it took was force on the big toe, a natural adjustment of body weight, to flip the top up. Now, fingers and touching, ewwww. Germs, ewwww. All that brainwashing about transmission of bugs and viruses from Dettol and Lifebuoy ads was now rearing its ugly head.

What was one to do if both hands were occupied? How would i peel oranges now?!

I voiced my grave concern at this calamity upon discovery. "Mummy, what do we do now?" "You should have called us the moment it happened so we could buy another bin". My mum went "Aiyah, you lazy. Cannot use your hands ah?"

Yes, it is funny.