The average human being is a simple creature. They go about their daily lives, obeying the law, obeying any commands given to them by authoritative figures, and obeying signs and notices all over the place.
So it was that a week or so ago in the kitchen of my place of work (I work for a large US based international IT company with offices in most countries) a cardboard box appeared, with a note attached requesting that milk bottle lids be left therein. No further information was given at all. Being the human sheep (sheople?) that we all are, milk bottle tops began to appear in the box.
I however, was a little more sceptical. I wanted to know what the collection was for, what purpose was being served by the collection of small pieces of plastic. I suspected that it might be for some charity thing or other but I couldn’t imagine what exactly. For all I knew it was for the local KKK chapter, or maybe the BNP – two causes I absolutely don’t want to support. So I simply wrote ‘WHY?’ on the note. For a couple of days that question went unanswered. But when the response came, it didn’t help. All that happened was that the portion of the notice I had written on was ripped off! Unperturbed I wrote another question. I simply asked if there was a reason for the collection, or if it was just a strange fetish. I figured that should be provocative enough to elicit a genuine reply.
A couple of days later a real response came. Again my question was ripped off, but this time an additional bit was added to the note. Apparently the collection was to help get a wheelchair for a disabled child. At last, some real information, and who wouldn’t want to help such a worthwhile cause?
But, I’m still a sceptic.
So, I fired up Google, and searched ‘wheelchair bottle tops‘. Imagine my surprise (not) when I find that there are loads of people collecting milk bottle tops, and no-one seems to know exactly what to do with them. Many people are calling Hoax, and I can understand why. There may have been such a scheme once, but it obviously did the rounds, and the origins are lost and the scheme is gone.
But the idea persists. Some big hearted people catch a whiff of the idea, and unquestioningly perpetuate it. If just a few more people would ask ‘Why?’ when presented with a command the world may be a better place.
It’s a great allegory for religion I feel.
*I don’t wish to denegrate sheep with this comparison. Sorry if it offends any of my Ovis aries readership.
P.S. If anyone genuinely does know what to do with these tops here in the UK, and can provide a web link to back it up, I’ll be sure to pass it along to the mystery collector. If there is a genuine cause that can be supported, then I’m only to happy to help out.