furthermore, since my family knows about all my exploits, i don't have to cater to them in any way, and the rest of you could give a shit about solar panels and gardens, so i think cultural exchange is much more important and profound. now, let's see if i'm up to the challenge.
so for a first, i want to reflect on american consumerism. not necessarily buying new things (which is always fun), but buying new things that we have absolutely no apparent use for. think about it. no offense to any of my friends who read this, but why do you need 10 of everything. and i'm being this ambiguous because this applies to almost everything we possess. in fact, i think a good exercise is to look into your closet or dresser and analyze every piece of clothing. when was the last time you wore article A? and the time before that? if there is more than a month long period in between you should probably donate that shit to someone who can use it more often. now of course, this excludes the super fancy, the tuxes and evening gowns and things, which are for specific occasions. regardless, i bet you will find at least one thing that you don't need anymore. maybe two. and if you continue this inspection in the other areas in your house, you will find it filled with shit that you may not even know you had. and that, should make you think. if it doesn't, maybe you should reanalyze your approach to life, and existence on this little planet of ours.
ok, so why am i ranting about this now. and it's true, i am just as guilty of this as anyone else, and at this precise moment i am looking at my 1, yeah that's right 1, book shelf/closet combo thing, and i realize that there is much here that i have no use for. shirts i haven't worn since i started service, pants that i have only worn once. i even have a package of undershirts that i opened, layed out on my shelf, and then never used. not once. granted they're all mediums and i'm a tiny bastard who should have known better, but still. why are they still there. shouldn't someone put them to good use?
and yes, there is a point to all of this. there occured a moment in my mind that acted as a catalyst for this discussion. and it all happened when i did my laundry after vacation. you see, when you go on vacation you bring clothes for almost any situation, logically, because you never know. so i basically had to wash my whole wardrobe, which for a peace corps volunteer should be limited to almost nothing. not in my case. after i was done, i had three clothes lines drying, and then it hit me. i looked around and saw that i was being watched by the 20 coffee pickers that my host dad had trucked in from out of town. in their eyes i could see something like envy/disgust/surprise all mixed together. nothing hostile, but it still slammed me like a dump truck. i looked up and realized that i was hanging up enough clothing for most of them to wear for a whole coffee season. and it was all mine. i don't think i have ever felt as shitty about drying my laundry as i did that day. and it still bothers me.
i guess it's just something to think about when you do laundry next time.
This is very true... we buy more and more when we do not need anything. But think about it in a different way - when we buy something it means somebody else has a job, makes money and puts food on the table, this buying process is what makes the whole world tick...
ReplyDeletelove, mom