This morning I was emptying the dishwasher and a newly washed re-usable cup led me to recall my mother and the resolve of the Japanese in the face of the recent earthquake and tsunami.  With the recent disaster several news reports have marveled at the Japanese resolution to work as a community even to the point of recycling items at the relief centers.

Here in the U.S. we're amazed at this degree of commitment to the common good.  Hell, we can't put our collective hearts into recycling here even when the trucks are provided each week to do the pick-up work.

But Japan, like my mother, has always known the meaning of necessity.  As an island country resources cannot be taken for granted.  Each individual has a responsibility to insure there will be enough for all.

Growing up in the Depression, and in a family with limited means, my mother learned a similar lesson:  Laughter, love, caring and concern we can always give and use in abundance. Things, material goods, are precious, hard to come by and should be respected and given care.  It's the attitude of a caretaker as opposed to that of consumer.

So, where does the dishwasher come into all of this?  I suppose it fits this discussion on many levels but here's the trigger:  While unloading that re-useable drinking cup-- the kind a person uses when they go to the gym (something my mom was doing in 1971!)-- I thought, "Wow, Mom would think this is so cool that we use re-useable cups!"  But then, almost immediately, I realized that, no, she would scoff at these sports cups.  Her comment would be:  How silly.  Why use a plastic cup when they have a drinking fountain?

But I think she would really dig this laptop.