the implications of a dust buster

My friend left her dust buster in my room the other day. I have no idea what she was doing, carrying it around in a plastic Thank-You-For-Shopping-With-Us bag. I barely bothered to ask. Anyway, we (her very pretty friend, her, and I) drank a bottle of wine and she left her weird, modern art, designer (as I was later told) dust buster on the floor of my room. I didn't know what to do.

After a few days of it ironically collecting dust beneath my desk, I realized that my entire room has been collecting dust since August. I noticed it in corners. The corners of my desk, the corners of the room. I thought, "My, I wish I had a dust - oh." I unsheathed the mighty beast and stared at it, holding its odd, football-shaped, beautiful body in my hands. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to turn the damn creature on (it doesn't have a switch on the top like a traditional dust buster; rather, it has a conveniently inconspicuous button on its tail - where it's asshole would be, basically). Luckily, my intellectual prowess got the better of it and I was soon listening to its sweet, loud whirring as I ran it over every single square inch of my room, busting every little dust particle in sight. Yeehah! I finished, turned it off, and was satisfied.

And it hit me an hour or so later. I realized what I just done, and it got me to thinking: Can I really use other people's tools to clean up my own mess? I don't know. I really don't. There's a part of me that says no, of course not. But that's a very quick answer. What really matters is that my room is clean and free of dust. It doesn't matter how I did it, right?

Lord I hope not. Because, if so, life will be slow and long.

Either way, you know, I just stood there staring at my dust-free desk and felt relieved. I didn't give any thought to the fact that it was her dust buster, not mine. And you know, now that I think about it, it doesn't really matter. Someone's tools are not an extension of them. Tools are universal. They transcend the boundaries of property. It's like getting help. Someone's comforting words are intended to make you feel better, and what is important is the end result.

Anyway, thanks for the dust buster, Pia.