Hiding the damage

For a few weeks now I have passed this trash can with the door broken on the receptacle lid as I go in the door for work. It has made it easy to throw away banana peels because I haven't had to push the door in, just drop it through the crack. In the last week I noticed I assumed it had been repaired. I walked up to it today from an angle I don't normally go. There the door was, still broken as it always had been.

I guess there are two ways to look at it. One is a form of recycling. Turn the top over and use the other side. Or hide the broken side and maybe you won't have to replace it so soon because it still looks presentable.

Years ago when I worked at an auction company the appraisers bid a house and bid it high because of the amount of collectable tea cups present in the house. An agreement was struck. When we went in to set the estate up for auction, to the auctioneer's horror, every last teacup had a crack in it. All of them were worthless.  There was nothing left to do but throw them out. I don't believe the relatives of the estate were attempting to be malicious and deceptive. I think they thought they were going to get a lot of money as well from the collectables.

Turning the broken sides away from people's viewpoints, increases the perception of value. But it doesn't change the fact that it is still broken and diminished in value. 

That sounds like the human condition. We shield our broken places from others. People see the functional side of us and we try not to show the damage. We assume that the observers ascribe higher value to us with our damage turned away from their point of view. It is a fertile ground for shame to grow.