Garbage Dump Trophies

This incident happened when my oldest son was much smaller. I wrote it down then so I'd always remember and, for some reason, thought it was the right thing to share with you today on Food for Thought Friday.

Garbage Dump Trophies

My son brought home a treasure from the dump yesterday. Don't worry, that's not where we do all our shopping. Although, if you knew my love of a good bargain, it's understandable. No, he went with my mom to see about some free compost they offer there that she'd heard about in her gardening class.

On the road that leads to the dump, they were behind a truck loaded down with things someone no longer wanted. My little boy spied something on the back of that truck that he thought looked wonderful. It was a box full of trophies.

He was sure it was a mistake. No one would ever get rid of something so beautiful. They followed the truck all the way to the dump. Then, in a move that only a grandmother would make--and no mother would appreciate--my mom stopped and asked the man for the box of trophies.

They called on their way home so excited. He was supposed to spend the night with her, but he wanted to come on home so he could show his treasure to his brother. He showed up with a box full of shiny gold trophies.

Some little boy had been very athletic--there were ones for football, soccer, baseball, and basketball. I can only imagine the number of trips to the ball field,or times his mother had to fix snacks for the team (she has my sympathy and respect). All his agility had now earned my son a box of beauty that, by the way, smelled horribly of mothballs.

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when he started taking them all out and making a display in our garage. There were so many of them! I was wondering what his dad would say when he got home, and where he would park.

But something occurred to me. We're all like Jack. We catch sight of someone elses treasure. We can't believe how good it looks. We try to figure out how we can get some for ourselves. If we get it, we may even think it's great--for a while. But eventually, we realize it was just baggage they were hauling and then we're stuck with the junk too. Whether it's nicer houses, newer cars, or celebrity bodies, we're apt to be chasing down a box full of trophies.

So we played with the trophies. We threw away the smelly box and made room for Daddy's truck. We'll hold onto this treasure for a bit. There's a great object lesson spread out at my feet. And it'll remind me not to keep looking at other people's "boxes". But I don't think I'll send him to the dump with Granny any time soon.