The Conversation
The next time Monica arrived, Eleanor walked outside.
“Monica,” she said calmly, “could you please unplug your car from my outlet?”
Monica looked surprised.
“Why?”
“Because that's my electricity.”
Monica glanced toward the house.
Then she shrugged.
“You live alone.”
Eleanor couldn't believe what she had just heard.
“That doesn't mean you can use my electricity without asking.”
Monica apparently didn't see the situation the same way.
She offered Eleanor ten dollars and suggested that should settle the matter.
Eleanor explained that it wasn't about ten dollars.
It was about permission.
It was her home, her electricity, and her property.
Monica became defensive.
She accused Eleanor of being greedy and insisted that she wasn't using enough electricity to matter.
That comment stayed with Eleanor.
Because the issue wasn't simply the amount on the bill.
It was the assumption that Eleanor's possessions were available to someone else simply because she wasn't using them at that moment.
