Buying Garbage Bags
A couple of times per year, I stumble across this paradox that has always bemused me. I think I can best describe it with a short narrative…
I go to the store to buy some garbage bags. I only need one roll, so I grab a bag and throw it into my cart. The roll is packaged nicely in a plastic bag wrapper so that my garbage bags don’t unroll all over my cart as I head to the checkout line. The cashier scans the code on the package wrapper and my garbage bags remain safely encased in their wrapper until I arrive home. Once I get home, I painstakingly untwist the twist-tie from the package and remove the roll of garbage bags. I gently peel off one bag and align it in my kitchen trash can.
Now, here comes the paradox. I find it to be nearly impossible to return the roll of garbage bags into their wrapper, so the very first thing that I do once my trash can is lined is to throw the wrapper into the garbage bag. This is the paradox, the wrapper has been put into the bag; the container has become the contained; the precursory roles have now become the diametric antithesis.
So, each time I toss my wrapper into the garbage can, these thoughts always go through my mind…
I wonder how the wrapper feels...
Does it resent it’s new condition? Has it always lived in peaceful bliss, with the idea that it is superior to the bags and that it will always remain in this role? Is it utterly shocked to discover that it now finds itself engulfed in the belly of the one it used to keep contained?
Or, does it find peace in its new position? Has the wrapper always known that its role was to protect and to serve the well-being of the bags? Does it peacefully join the comfort of knowing that its old friend has been protected and is now willing to protect it. Has it always seen the bigger picture, serving well and with strength until the role is to change?
And, I wonder how the bag feels…
Has it always felt constrained and held back by the limits of its oppressor? Does it now feel vindicated by its freedom and the power that it now has to hold down the one that formerly oppressed it? Does it desire only to multiply the resistance that kept it so deprived of its freedom?
Or, does the bag feel the joy of now supporting and holding up its old friend and protector? Is the bag relieved to know that the two are still together and that they can remain as one for all of time? Is the peace that comes from fulfillment of their unified mission the thought that carries it through the rest of its days?
I call this the Diametric Antithesis Paradox (just because any paradox needs a crazy name:^). And, yes, I know that this would mean the “opposite opposite”, that’s why I think it is funny. Even though two negatives usually denote a positive, in this case, I am using it in a redundant multiplistic context. This Diametric Antithesis Paradox is when the entire purpose for one’s existence has now become its complete antithesis; in my mind, by either a forced change or a necessary change caused by involuntary circumstances. We see this played out to the extreme in tales like Hansel and Gretel, when the cannibalistic witch becomes consumed by her cooking fire. We also see this in Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game”, when the hunters become the hunted. Clearly though, as in my example of the wrapper becoming the garbage, this paradox does not always exist in these extremes.
We see and experience these scenarios in our lives with a fair degree of regularity.
The real question is, how do we respond..?
I go to the store to buy some garbage bags. I only need one roll, so I grab a bag and throw it into my cart. The roll is packaged nicely in a plastic bag wrapper so that my garbage bags don’t unroll all over my cart as I head to the checkout line. The cashier scans the code on the package wrapper and my garbage bags remain safely encased in their wrapper until I arrive home. Once I get home, I painstakingly untwist the twist-tie from the package and remove the roll of garbage bags. I gently peel off one bag and align it in my kitchen trash can.
Now, here comes the paradox. I find it to be nearly impossible to return the roll of garbage bags into their wrapper, so the very first thing that I do once my trash can is lined is to throw the wrapper into the garbage bag. This is the paradox, the wrapper has been put into the bag; the container has become the contained; the precursory roles have now become the diametric antithesis.
So, each time I toss my wrapper into the garbage can, these thoughts always go through my mind…
I wonder how the wrapper feels...
Does it resent it’s new condition? Has it always lived in peaceful bliss, with the idea that it is superior to the bags and that it will always remain in this role? Is it utterly shocked to discover that it now finds itself engulfed in the belly of the one it used to keep contained?
Or, does it find peace in its new position? Has the wrapper always known that its role was to protect and to serve the well-being of the bags? Does it peacefully join the comfort of knowing that its old friend has been protected and is now willing to protect it. Has it always seen the bigger picture, serving well and with strength until the role is to change?
And, I wonder how the bag feels…
Has it always felt constrained and held back by the limits of its oppressor? Does it now feel vindicated by its freedom and the power that it now has to hold down the one that formerly oppressed it? Does it desire only to multiply the resistance that kept it so deprived of its freedom?
Or, does the bag feel the joy of now supporting and holding up its old friend and protector? Is the bag relieved to know that the two are still together and that they can remain as one for all of time? Is the peace that comes from fulfillment of their unified mission the thought that carries it through the rest of its days?
I call this the Diametric Antithesis Paradox (just because any paradox needs a crazy name:^). And, yes, I know that this would mean the “opposite opposite”, that’s why I think it is funny. Even though two negatives usually denote a positive, in this case, I am using it in a redundant multiplistic context. This Diametric Antithesis Paradox is when the entire purpose for one’s existence has now become its complete antithesis; in my mind, by either a forced change or a necessary change caused by involuntary circumstances. We see this played out to the extreme in tales like Hansel and Gretel, when the cannibalistic witch becomes consumed by her cooking fire. We also see this in Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game”, when the hunters become the hunted. Clearly though, as in my example of the wrapper becoming the garbage, this paradox does not always exist in these extremes.
We see and experience these scenarios in our lives with a fair degree of regularity.
The real question is, how do we respond..?
Comments
Post a Comment