In ancient times, Japanese people thought that objects would acquire a spirit if people use it for a long time. If you throw it away, its spirit would become a ghost… Of course it’s not worth discussing whether objects have a spirit or not. It’s about how people deal with objects. But some incidents, which must have happened coincidentally, made me think if objects really have a spirit or not. For example, the rechargeable battery of my BlackBerry was running low; I often had to charge it twice a day. A few days ago, I went to an electronics store to buy a new one, but they ran out of it. I went to a nearby cellphone shop, but they ran out of it too. I did not look for other stores and went home. Since then, the battery has worked fine. Did it want me not to throw it away??? I have seen some other incidents like this.
My family had used a TV set for a long time, and it often did not work properly. We decided to buy a new one. When the new one was delivered to home, the old one suddenly stopped working completely.
Did it try to work hard until its successor was delivered?
I had used a wrist watch for a long time. It worked fine, but I just wanted a new one, and went to some shops to look for a good one. But I could not choose one, and went home. On the next day, the old wrist watch stopped working.
Was it jealous?
They must have happened just coincidentally. But people should not dispose of things easily for sure. Recycling is not as good as reusing.
FYI, some information of Japanese folklore can be found on Wikipedia.