Hello there, I might be known to you. Have you seen those plastic or metal buckets placed on the road sides, with a caption written on it, which says, “USE ME”? Yeah, that’s me. I am called a dustbin. People use me to dump their garbage, well, I mean, they are supposed to. Basically I am found all over the globe, but used in very few; which is a real shame for me. It seems like I have lost my importance to the people. But things were not the same back when I was invented.
Early days:
Back in the year 1884, a guy named Eugene Poubelle invented me in France, in order for households to dump their garbage. This slowly went further ahead to the point the whole society has a common dustbin where every household would gather their garbage from their small personal dustbins and dump into into a huge, common dustbin.
That was the beginning of a new era. The era of Dustbins. I was the king at that time. People loved me. Even people who had me felt superior to those who didn’t. I was becoming a symbol of cleanliness. I was the Clean Supreme
.
Things went on pretty nicely for many decades. But slowly, people started getting bored by me. Maybe they wanted me to do something more than just store their sewage. Maybe they wanted me to crack jokes or something. But I wasn’t able to do that.
The Downfall:
Days passed and I was losing my fame. But I didn’t have anything else to offer other than just provide a space for them to dump their shitty stuff. I was losing my value. The society was progressing at rapid pace. But I was still that good old plastic bucket.
But all were not the same. Some still loved me. They took care of me, and did what I loved most – they dumped their shit in me. I was happy with them. After all humanity is still alive.
Although there were countries who almost forgot about me. I was present right in front of their eyes, and yet they would throw their garbage beside me in the road. It felt like I was invisible. Some even played basketball with me. They treated me as the basket and they would throw their garbage from a far distance, aiming for it to enter me. It felt nice when it entered. But the times when it didn’t, they didn’t give a second effort. Such losers! They just dampened the mood for the game. No sportsman spirit at all.
Current situation:
Well, I am still invisible to most, while some still recognize me and use me. I love them. But there are people who hold a piece of garbage in their hand, a bag of chips, or a candy wrapper, and they see me at a distance. Yet they don’t come close to me and throw it right where they are standing. It breaks my heart.
Am I that worthless? What have I done to them? I live in depression most of the time now. Thinking of the good old days, when I was the Supreme icon for cleanliness. Now everything has changed. Time changes, people change but my duty will always be the same.
I will still be standing there by the roadside, in the storms, in the hot sunshines and in the snowy weather. I will be doing my job.
I wish Eugene were here. He would know how to tackle the situation. But he is gone now. And people are making a fun of me.
I only have one request to all those reading this, ‘If you want your country to be clean, so that when someone from elsewhere comes to visit your state, you don’t feel ashamed of the dirt in your roads, then –
USE ME!‘
The Verbal Explainer 