Out with the old in the age of online world

One day when I was reading the newspaper in the morning, my 23-year-old son Sidharth came and tried to convince me that there were many outdated things in our home that needed replacement. He said that selling old household things online is convenient nowadays.

Over a period of time, I have learnt that the best way to maintain peace and tranquility at home is to avoid arguments. When every argument ends with you giving in, why have an argument in the first place? “We can give it a try,” was my half-hearted reply. “What price should we quote for our sofa set, refrigerator and the three old bicycles lying in the garage?” he asked. Before I could say something, he himself replied that the internet would give us a fairly good idea about the price of second-hand things.

In the evening, when I returned from office, I saw a person leaving our house on a rickshaw loaded with three old bicycles. I couldn’t believe that my son had taken such a quick action. I slowly asked Sidharth how much he had sold the bicyclesfor, and he replied ,“Rs 1500”.

Adhering to the policy of no comments, I avoided asking him whether he had offered one free bicycle on the purchase of two.

Anyhow when I entered the house, there was another surprise in store for me. Our sofa set was missing from the living room. “Have you sold the sofa?” I asked Sidharth in disbelief. “Yes, we got a decent price for that, and there cannot be better bargain than this,” he replied. Before I could say anything, he told me that a person would be coming to see our refrigerator later in the evening.

At dinner, a person came to see the fridge and decided to buy it. He paid us the money and wanted to take it immediately as he was going out of station the next day. By the time he came with a rickshaw to take the fridge, we took out milk, fruits, vegetables, frozen food and other stuff and kept them on the kitchen shelf without a clue where we would keep all these things in the hot summer.

After about half an hour, the doorbell rang. Oh no, is something else also on sale, I asked myself. But it was one of my friends, who walked in to have an informal chat over a glass of cold coffee. In the absence of the sofa, he was made to sit on one of the dining chairs. We could not offer him cold coffee as we had no refrigerator now.

Seeing my plight, he smiled and shared his experience of online selling of his bed. The day he advertised his bed, the same evening a person came to their place and decided to buy it on the quoted price at once. My friend relived the ordeal of taking out all surplus stuff from the bed boxes, and sleeping on the floor till he got a new bed. Meanwhile, Sidharth, who was online searching for a suitable refrigerator, shouted from his room, “Papa, there is a good bargain on the refrigerator, should I order it!”

I HAVE LEARNT THAT THE BEST WAY TO MAINTAIN PEACE AT HOME IS TO AVOID ARGUMENTS. WHEN EVERY ARGUMENT ENDS WITH YOU GIVING IN, WHY HAVE AN ARGUMENT IN THE FIRST PLACE?