2 Cups

CS and I went to the Minneapolis Institute of Art on Sunday for a dreary day activity out and about.  Usually we'd prefer a long hike at a wild park, but its November, cold, wet, windy, and otherwise inimical weather.  No matter how many times I visit the museum, and how many times I wander down the same halls, the non rotating works of art always seem to grab me in different ways. 

This time it was a 6000 year old cup set.  This was not a ornamental, or gaudy cup of kings.  It was pretty, but it was plain.  This cup was built for functionality and nothing more.  It got me thinking about all the cups I've owned just in my lifetime, and how many times I've thrown perfectly good cups away because I found new cups.

you considered how much of the things in your life have gone through the revolving door of consumerism?   I don't know the complete history of that cup in the museum, and if I were to guess, I'd say it was owned for an entire life, and was perhaps passed down through generations within one family.  Imagine your unborn great-great-great-great grandchild using a cup for their entire life, and that cup was the first and only cup you ever used.  Imagine if that cup never went out of style simply because it fulfilled its purpose. 

I have jar glasses, coffee mugs, and stemware at home right now (2 of each, one for CS and one for me), and that 6000 year old cup made me feel like a greedy bastard as it held my gaze.