Public Trash

Ok, so my landlady came up today to say hello, to look at our new shelves, and to...drum roll...tell me that they went through our trash and noticed we had thrown away some perfectly good coloring books and other books. She requested that I not do that anymore because they would take stuff we don't want in the future.

But here's the thing: we were warned that sometimes it's offensive to offer your old stuff to people from upper castes. They take it as an insult. We didn't want to create any more tension than already exists between us and our Indian wardens, er, family. Plus, we already have three or four garbage bags worth of stuff to give away to underprivileged people we know. So we thought it was safest and easiest to just get rid of things this time.

Apparently, no. I don't hate our landlords and their families. I know it sounds like I do. I'm just in a complaining mode and I'm screaming, through the blogosphere, Going through our garbage, really? Even our trash isn't private? Can I get a witness??

*collecting my breath*