Imagine you were at a young age and had just earned a  toy action figure. You just got it for your birthday and you love it already. You play with it a lot, knowing that it would be a miracle to earn another toy so fast after you just got this one. You bring it everywhere with you and it gets dirty but you don’t care. You love it anyways.

Now imagine that the action figure’s right leg broke. It was your absolute favorite toy, and you know that it can’t be fixed and you aren’t going to get another toy in a long time. It is your choice to either throw the toy away or do something else with it but that was the only toy you had and you don’t have any other form of entertainment each day.

Would you throw away your toy? Would you mourn over it and bury it or would you clean it and put it in your room? Would you wait for a new toy or would you keep playing with your favorite, dirty, broken one? Would you toss it in the garbage or burn it and have a ceremony for it?

 

Second scenario:

You get the same toy only this time you miraculously get a new, better, and cleaner toy. You love them both, but your mom wants to throw away the old one. She says you already have the new one and it’s time to move on. You love your old toy. You have had a couple of good memories with it, already. You brought it t show-and-tell. You brought it to a picnic. You brought it on a vacation. You brought it to the school playground to play with. You love this toy. It is your only toy and it has gone with you to many different places.

But your new toy is shinier and brighter and a better version and just…newer. You like the new toy, too. It is a better version than the old one. It isn’t coated in dust and full of stains. It doesn’t look battered so much you can’t tell what it represents. It is shiny and new and your mom bought it because she thought it was time you threw away the old one.

Would you throw away the old one? Will your love transfer to the newer toy? Or will you refuse the offer and stick with your life-long companion and never trade your old toy with a new and better version? Will you want both, if you had the choice? Do you like new toys or do you like toys that you have loved as far back as you remember? The answer varies from person to person. Some people think that if their parents buy a new toy for them, they would throw away the old one immediately and eagerly start a new adventure with the new one. Others would shake their heads firmly at the offer, stating fondly that their first toy would remain their only companion. Still others would beg to keep both and soon, if they are successful, have a whole collection of toys in their room, each with their own special memories, and love every one of their toys, refusing to throw away any. Personally, I think throwing away a toy you really love and have had since you were little is like throwing away a big chunk of your childhood.

Commented already? Don’t stop there! Make your own prompts. The point of this is not to simply answer the question, but to reply and ask questions of your own that I can and most likely will reply to and others will, too. Make up another prompt or ask one based on this one.  Then me and other bloggers that have visited my  blog will comment, too, and give some prompts of their own. Then we can start a discussion! Just a reminder: This is not a boring English book discussion. This is for fun and fun only. If I ever have a prompt because of a book, it will be a book I have read in my own free time, a book that I would have thought you would have read because it is a good book. It would not be a class-required book.