Skip to main content

Beyond: The Microwave

A microwave is such a handy tool, so convenient,

It warms the food in a blink of 1min30s.

Every worker wants a microwave.

It is 7.30pm, you arrive finally at home. 
The bus commute from your work office to the confine of your living room took an hour. 
You are exhausted. 
Sitting down in front of the computer all day wore you out. 
You are starved.
Your belly is rumbling.
You need food it is a matter of survival.
Hopefully, your level of organisation has paid off. 
You have food in the fridge. 
Thanks to your to-do-list called ''Get Ready For Work''.
On Sunday, you prepared a week worth of dishes to keep you going. 
They are all in beautifully compact Tupperware you bought in your favourite or closest super shop.
You open the fridge door, you take one Tupperware, close the fridge door, take your favourite bowl on the drying rack, open the Tupperware, pour the content in. 
A warm feeling wraps up your heart and your belly.
You open the door of your microwave.  
Pop the content inside.
You love the sound of the door closing.
You press the start button to get it in motion. 
Once, twice, three times.
It is not working.
Guess your feeling
...
You unplug it, replug it.
Still nothing.
Millions of thoughts are travelling in your mind and two questions:

WHO IS THIS MICROWAVE IN MY KITCHEN COS I NEVER MET IT BEFORE?
AND WHY IS NOT RESPONDING TO ME?

The microwave when working is always ready-to-hand. Heidegger was the one who coined the term ''ready-to-hand'' to describe how infrastructures and objects that surround human beings are at any time ready to be used to produce a certain outcome. It is only when the item breaks that the real item reveals itself and become ''objectively present'' as Heidegger put it. 

When the microwave broke, you realise how central this machine is to you as everything associated with it became destroyed: the start button, the microwave door, the waves of energy, the bowl of pasta, the pursued warm meal in front of a favourite show.

What to do? 
Repair it?
No, first, you want to find a solution to your cold meal:
eat it as it is, 
warm it up in a pan, 
take up the courage to pop at your neighbour to ask if you can get a microwave fix, 
Go to a friend living 10 min drive from your house
check gumtree on your phone to get a new one, 
pop to your favourite 24hours shop, 
go get some takeaway. 

It is a matter of survival.



Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

What did I learn from analysing my expenditure after a year

In the following blog post, I share the results of two analysis. The first one is an analysis of my spendings by categories after a year, the second is analysis of what I want to achieve by category. The analysis contribute to my main aim which is to achieve financial independence. I am currently trying to pay a debt - 12K for a student loan. To do the first analysis, I downloaded all the statements from my current account in an excel format. I assigned a category to each entry. What are the results? I  allocated 18% of my resources to my loan and the same amount to travel to France and have a couple of trip in the UK. I spent more money on conspicuous consumption than food. I did not have many outings that involved financial expenditure. What am I missing? I haven't got a good idea of what all the cash I have taken out was used for. A part of it must be to commute to work, then it is a mix of food shopping, outings, shopping and more outings. For the second analyy...
Post a Comment
Read more

Caged animals

The man opens the cage to throw a big cat in there. I look at him intrigued. I look closer and see other animals caged including gorillas and orange outan. To my horror, one of the cage I'd open and a big cat is about to escape. I look for help and I see two mens disguised as gorilla taking care of the animals. I told them about the escape. When they look the animal is no longer there. Before I knew someone comes to find us asking us to go as if something terrible just happened and we started running to all our might.
Read more

The Listeners by Walter De La Mare

  The Listeners BY  WALTER DE LA MARE ‘Is there anybody there?’ said the Traveller,       Knocking on the moonlit door; And his horse in the silence champed the grasses       Of the forest’s ferny floor: And a bird flew up out of the turret,       Above the Traveller’s head: And he smote upon the door again a second time;       ‘Is there anybody there?’ he said. But no one descended to the Traveller;       No head from the leaf-fringed sill Leaned over and looked into his grey eyes,       Where he stood perplexed and still. But only a host of phantom listeners       That dwelt in the lone house then Stood listening in the quiet of the moonlight       To that voice from the world of men: Stood thronging the faint moonbeams on the dark stair,...
Post a Comment
Read more