One Man's Trash

More than enough is often just too much.

"…in the world does it have to Be THAT LOUD?!"

Shirley had started asking the question at a normal volume, but Bill hadn't heard. The Pacers were playing, and Bill might as well have been seated at half-court: he was 5 feet away from the big 60" monster of a TV he had insisted they needed. Shirley had commented they would need to sit in the neighbor's living room to enjoy it…but he bought it anyway. Today, she could be excused for being irritated: as Bill jumped up and down like an orangutan, the TV was turned up to approximately the level of a Judas Priest concert.

Bill screamed back to her, never taking his eyes off the screen, "Quiet! We're down to the wire! We — come on, come on, Haliburton!"

Shirley shook her head in disgust and frustration. She loved Bill; but sometimes she didn't like him very much at all. What a fantastic Tuesday night spending time together, she thought with sour sarcasm.

@-----@-----@

Wednesday was a run-ragged day for Bill. Everybody wanted something, and nobody seemed to want to wait until he wasn't busy to ask for it. And tonight, of all nights, Shirley wanted to go out to a movie, not watch the "dumb old TV." He sighed as he turned onto his street and saw the Robillards had parked in his spot on the street again. He parked three car lengths up from his house.

As he walked back toward his house, something completely incongruous caught his eye and stopped him in his tracks. Like a man who has just found an ostrich in his linen closet, Bill stood on the sidewalk looking toward the street in dumbfounded confusion. Who in the world would put a 60" HDTV in the garbage?!