imaginary conversations

(Betsy approaches me with a banana peel retrieved from the kitchen trash can.)

"Mother, I've been evaluating your work, and I really can't understand this obsession of yours with throwing things away. Take this banana peel I've brought to you. Perfectly good. Great for a teething baby like myself; wonderful texture, lovely smell -- and divine taste. Why on earth would we dispose of it?

(Leaves me with banana peel, returns with new treasure)

Next, we have the soda cracker's plastic wrapper. Heaven knows how anyone could think such an item could be garbage! Think of its creative possibilities. The hours of entertainment. Here, you contemplate; I've more to show you.

Grapes. Perfectly good grapes. You know better than to think that just because I've turned up my nose at them for the past three days doesn't mean I don't love them. In fact, please feed me some now.

I don't care if they were in the trash. Please feed them to me.