Anne Enright writes:
"Objects don't have feelings - this we know. So why do we treat them as if they do? If you think you're immune, ask yourself a few questions. Imagine that there is an empty light socket hanging in the room. You have enough light but the socket still bothers you. Now, do you put a bulb in it a) because if you don't the electricity will leak out all over the place and run up your bill,
b) because the socket looks so lonely or
c) because there's no point in having an empty socket, is there, it just looks silly.
Now an empty socket can't look silly, it's not embarrassed nor is it ever lonely. An open door doesn't want to be shut. The room does not feel vunerable if the door is ajar. The room does not 'feel' at all. I know someone who turns out the electric light in order to help the fire catch. Now this, we are all agreed, is stupid. But what about leaving the lights on when you go out so it won't look so lonely when you come back? Houses are buildings. They don't miss you, or welcome you back. They don't care.
Alright, the emotion is in us, mostly. Oh dear. It's a hard fact, it's the end of poetry not to mention interior decoration. Blue is not a cool colour. Red is not warm or sensual or angry or seductive. You can't be attacked by a wall or seduced by a tin of paint. A Volkswagon Beetle is not a friendly car. Of course, it looks friendly but if you accept that it is friendly, then where will it all end? Lazy sofas and cheerful kettles and humble doormats and resolute ironing boards? We will be at the mercy of shy toasters and grumpy central heating and washing machines that just don't like us. We'll be yelled at by loud wallpaper and snubbed by unfriendly wash-hand basins. We will be mad.
