Property as Community
Jan. 12th, 2018 01:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lydyI've been working at the Abbott Northwestern lab for...about two years, I think. Not sure. Close to that, at any rate. I don't like disposable stuff. Partly it's environmental concerns, but mostly, it's aesthetic. So, quite early on, I bought a plate and bowl at Goodwill, and went to Target and got a 12 piece cutlery set for just under ten dollars. I brought in two of my favorite coffee mugs, and a couple of plastic tumblers, as well There's a common kitchen, and a cupboard labeled "Sleep Lab" that the day staff are not supposed to go into. I store my mugs and so on in there.
I work nights, so I see the people who work on my floor for a few moments in the morning, if that. They often leave dirty dishes in the sink. If I have time, and I often do, I wash them. I make sure that there's a clean towel for the dishes to dry on. I fill the coffee maker with water if it needs it and I remember. I clean out the microwave pretty regularly. I bought dish soap and left it in the kitchen, and people used it. I like the feeling of being a part of the community, of doing things which promote the common good. I know that people use my dishes and my cutlery because they often end up in the sink at the end of the day. This is just fine with me. I wash them cheerfully. I think it's great that people use durable rather than disposable stuff. And I feel great about contributing to the common good. I have little imaginary conversations in my head where people thank me. They don't, of course. (Except once.) But we're Minnesotan, so that's pretty normal.
However, over the course of two years, I have lost 10 spoons, 4 knives, and 8 forks. I have, at this point, purchased that same 12 piece cutlery set 3 times. And, my friends, this is not a lot of money. It is entirely trivial, in fact. But I am really, really upset by these thefts. I have left at least three carefully worded notes in the cupboard, saying, "Please borrow my stuff. Please return my stuff. Not returning it turns it from borrowing into stealing. Please don't steal my stuff." I've been very friendly about it, but the cutlery keeps on disappearing.
In some ways, it's the pettiness of it that really offends me. The flatware cannot under any circumstances be considered an attractive nuisance. While nicer than plasticware, it's really only one step up. It's functional, but neither pretty nor rare. It's fucking cheap! If you really took a shine to it, you could buy it at Target for almost no monies. And unless people are just throwing them away (which strikes me as unlikely) it has to be easier to just dump them in the sink for me to wash than do whatever it is that people are doing with them. Taking them home? Hoarding them in their offices? Why would you do that? Why, why, why are you stealing from me?
Here's the thing. The thefts have broken my feeling of community. They have destroyed my happy thoughts of people being grateful. Right before I left for vacation, I took my remaining cutlery, and put it in the cupboard in my office, which is not accessible to the other people who work on my floor. And I no longer fill the coffee maker, wash down the microwave, or wash their dishes. When their dishes are in my way, I put them on the counter. I am angry, and I am done. And I feel bad when I don't wash out the microwave. I feel bad when I don't wash their dishes. And I feel worse when I do. I really hate this.
And it was never about property. I genuinely don't mind the money, and would happily buy more cutlery if I thought that people would use it with the same sense of community with which I made it available. But I feel weirdly violated by this. Not because money, not because property, but because trust.
I work nights, so I see the people who work on my floor for a few moments in the morning, if that. They often leave dirty dishes in the sink. If I have time, and I often do, I wash them. I make sure that there's a clean towel for the dishes to dry on. I fill the coffee maker with water if it needs it and I remember. I clean out the microwave pretty regularly. I bought dish soap and left it in the kitchen, and people used it. I like the feeling of being a part of the community, of doing things which promote the common good. I know that people use my dishes and my cutlery because they often end up in the sink at the end of the day. This is just fine with me. I wash them cheerfully. I think it's great that people use durable rather than disposable stuff. And I feel great about contributing to the common good. I have little imaginary conversations in my head where people thank me. They don't, of course. (Except once.) But we're Minnesotan, so that's pretty normal.
However, over the course of two years, I have lost 10 spoons, 4 knives, and 8 forks. I have, at this point, purchased that same 12 piece cutlery set 3 times. And, my friends, this is not a lot of money. It is entirely trivial, in fact. But I am really, really upset by these thefts. I have left at least three carefully worded notes in the cupboard, saying, "Please borrow my stuff. Please return my stuff. Not returning it turns it from borrowing into stealing. Please don't steal my stuff." I've been very friendly about it, but the cutlery keeps on disappearing.
In some ways, it's the pettiness of it that really offends me. The flatware cannot under any circumstances be considered an attractive nuisance. While nicer than plasticware, it's really only one step up. It's functional, but neither pretty nor rare. It's fucking cheap! If you really took a shine to it, you could buy it at Target for almost no monies. And unless people are just throwing them away (which strikes me as unlikely) it has to be easier to just dump them in the sink for me to wash than do whatever it is that people are doing with them. Taking them home? Hoarding them in their offices? Why would you do that? Why, why, why are you stealing from me?
Here's the thing. The thefts have broken my feeling of community. They have destroyed my happy thoughts of people being grateful. Right before I left for vacation, I took my remaining cutlery, and put it in the cupboard in my office, which is not accessible to the other people who work on my floor. And I no longer fill the coffee maker, wash down the microwave, or wash their dishes. When their dishes are in my way, I put them on the counter. I am angry, and I am done. And I feel bad when I don't wash out the microwave. I feel bad when I don't wash their dishes. And I feel worse when I do. I really hate this.
And it was never about property. I genuinely don't mind the money, and would happily buy more cutlery if I thought that people would use it with the same sense of community with which I made it available. But I feel weirdly violated by this. Not because money, not because property, but because trust.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-12 08:26 pm (UTC)A metal spoon in a disposable cup will get tossed in the trash pretty regular. (This is an issue for recyclers; neither paper nor plastics digesters like lumps of stainless steel...) I've seen the same thing happen with paper plates and metal cutlery, so I would think there's a possibility that this is what's going on. There's also the possibility (if it's the kind of health facility that feeds patients) that the patient kitchen has a sort of cutlery gravity and anything left in a patient room is
at risk of winding up there.