Sort of Making A Difference

In one of my classes today, we had a 45 minute discussion about how to use capitalism to improve our environment. Interesting stuff, I guess.

Anyhow, it amuses me that some people still have faith that "the market" by some magical force, will start doing good at some point because sooner or later, consumers will want a better environment. The funny thing is, consumers already want a better environment. The problem isn't that people don't care. It's that people are consumers.

First of all, I'm not preaching to anyone. I'm definitely part of the problem. In my pocket, there are $500 worth of electronics. I like to think I'm environmentally friendly because I don't own a car in CA, but I still fly cross-country at least six times a year. I still drive a pickup truck at home.

But anyhow, I think it's interesting how attached people, including myself, get to consumerism. Even if you want things to change, there are products marketed towards you. Nike owns Converse and puts out sneakers with peace signs on them. Coke is sponsoring a fake indie movie about kids who travel the country giving out Cokes. Have issues with The Gap? You'd like Hot Topic.

The adage of rebellion is that the System Wants Us All To Be The Same. Really, I don't think the Man gives a shit if you buy the same things as everyone else or if you buy crap to express your uniqueness. You're still buying things.

But I'm sick to death of the Buy Nothing Day stuff too. I don't want to contribute to the decline of the world and so on, but I also don't want to feel guilty because I own an iPod.

I did buy two things on Buy Nothing Day. I bought a Santa Hat and a case of beer. Then me and some other guys on the team went around IV handing out beers (in our Santa Hats) to anyone who was still in town. 'Tis the season. Drinking season.

So Much Damn Food

So if you go to Costco, the smallest turkey you can find is just under 18 pounds. It cost 13 dollars, which was five cheaper than your standard issue turkey at the grocery store. And some people still wonder where this "Obesity Epidemic" is coming from.

But despite the three of us only being able to finish about an eighth of the food - and three quarters of the wine - that we'd bought, this was a good thanksgiving. I am thankful for the usual stuff, as always. Thankful for steroids in my turkeys. Thankful that I won at disc golf yesterday for the first time ever. Thankful I'm still with Sarah even though she's 2,600 miles away.

It takes a true American to show your humility and reverence for all that God has given you by eating until you feel sick, and then eating some more. But maybe the important thing is that we are thankful, if for just one day a year, if only for abundance of food, even if we forget the reason we gave thanks in the first place - once for stealing the Indian's land, once again for surviving the Civil War - yes, we are thankful, for friends, family, and health, and I hope that is what really matters.

White Library Card

This is what I found in the back of my desk today. I think I was looking for a pen or a screwdriver, neither of which I found. But in a sentimental way, this is way better.

I suppose I play the role of book-dork more than I actually live it. I'm a literature major who doesn't really like reading. Actually that's not true. I like reading. I just like other things - Ultimate Frisbee, video games, reading about politics, procrastinating on school work - more than I do reading. In any case, this library card is sentimental not because I go to the library much, or because I used to go there a lot, or anything in the "fond memory" genre at all. The library card is important because its white.

The Durham County Public Library stopped using white library cards in like 1990. I'm sure if you tried you could dig up the "inside scoop" as it were, about why the switch was made. And I'm sure whatever the reason for the transition, it's an absolutely fascinating thing to learn about. So fascinating I'm not sure I could handle it.

Anyhow, after the switch was made, I was initially jealous. The brown cards were new. Mine was old and obsolete. My brothers both got brown ones. But as the years wore on, I guess "retro" entered the scene or whatever, and suddenly the white card was a mark of pride. I was even offered a new one once given that my card is cracked in about 30 different places and threatens to break in half whenever its flexed. The barcode on the back has been replaced twice because it got so worn out the scanner couldn't read it.

I'd like to say this came from use - all the millions of times I checked out books to learn things and whatever, but the truth is it just came from neglect. Leaving a card in my wallet and sitting on it just wore it out. This could be a genetic thing. My dad's Duke ID goes through various states of disrepair, and has even been cracked it half (while the magnetic scanner still worked...) with his credit cards in a similar state of absolute ruin. So you can probably add "Poor maintenance of wallet contents" to the traits of the Lithuanian race, along with "speeding up at yellow lights" and "accumulating useless and cheap little wood carvings."

What's special about this little piece of plastic bearing my mom's signature of my name isn't really the color of the card so much as a pretend history thats associated with it. I like to imagine the librarian is impressed - or that they would be, were I to ever go to the Durham library anymore - when I pull out my white card that makes me a de facto long-timer of Durham.

(Anyone who takes this as a metaphor for race is stretching things way out of proportion.)