Imperfect World
Monday, November 20, 2006
Am I a Bad Person?
I try to do all that I can to learn about good nutrition, healthy living, the environment, and all that. I try my best not to take it to the extreme, which can at times, be a little difficult. I'm also a pretty slow moving person, so by the time I really get going on something, most people already know as much as I do about it. So am I a bad person when I, at least in my own head, think less of a person who chooses not to do what I think is right? I'm not talking about walking or biking to work; I'm not talking about eating only things that don't have eyes. I'm just talking about the little things we are all asked to do, like recycle. Everyone's garbage hauler provides you with a recycling bin, and ours doesn't even ask you to separate out anything. Just dump it all in and pull it to the curb on garbage day. No big effort on anyone's part.
So when I talk to people who are surprised that my family recycles as much as possible (cereal, tooth paste, etc. boxes, as well as junk mail, store bags, and the rest of the normal stuff) I'm a little taken aback. I just don't understand how a person can be so unthoughtful (is that a word?) or self-centered that they just dump everything they no longer want into a plastic bag and send it off to a landfill.
And throwing out clothing is another huge peave of mine. Why would you give up the tax write off of donating those clothes to a charity? Many charities here in MN will even provide you with a plastic bag, and will drive over to your house to pick up your unwanted but still usable clothing and household items.
But then, I hear this little voice in my head, closely resembling my mother's, that asks me if I know all the troubles that other people deal with every day, possibly causing them to overlook recycling and reusing stuff. And I have to say that no, I don't know what problems could cause you to avoid such an easy thing. But maybe I need to find out.
Any ideas?
So when I talk to people who are surprised that my family recycles as much as possible (cereal, tooth paste, etc. boxes, as well as junk mail, store bags, and the rest of the normal stuff) I'm a little taken aback. I just don't understand how a person can be so unthoughtful (is that a word?) or self-centered that they just dump everything they no longer want into a plastic bag and send it off to a landfill.
And throwing out clothing is another huge peave of mine. Why would you give up the tax write off of donating those clothes to a charity? Many charities here in MN will even provide you with a plastic bag, and will drive over to your house to pick up your unwanted but still usable clothing and household items.
But then, I hear this little voice in my head, closely resembling my mother's, that asks me if I know all the troubles that other people deal with every day, possibly causing them to overlook recycling and reusing stuff. And I have to say that no, I don't know what problems could cause you to avoid such an easy thing. But maybe I need to find out.
Any ideas?
Labels: charity, healthy living, nutrition, peave, recycle, reuse
¶ 3:15 PM 0 Comments
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Laundry that Torments Me
So now I've officially moved into adulthood in all its monotony. As a work-my-butt-off-at-home-raising-my-son Mom, my daily struggles are far from the topics of dealing with office politics, and keeping my resume current. My big challenge lately has been laundry.
I've pretty much always been the laundry-doing half in our marriage, which for the most part is just fine. My husband is a teacher, so occassionally he'll have a pen mark on his pants, or a small coffee spill to deal with. I've got those stains down pretty well. (Pen marks come out after a good dousing of hairspray. Coffee just needs a cocktail of laundry detergent and dish soap -like Dawn NOT cascade.)
Now we've got a soon-to-be two year old. He's a pretty mellow kid overall, and is about as far from the "Pigpen" Peanuts character as you can get without having serious issues. But he's discovered all sorts of things lately, and his clothes have become a storyline for his latest adventures. I think I missed out on the stain removal class in home ec. My mom also forgot to pass down her stain removal expertise. I sit and look at a little white shirt with a Jackson Pollock design of avocado, water paint, Halloween candy shell, and a few mystery components, and I'm at a loss. I treat the whole thing with laundry detergent, scrubbed with a little scrubber brush. I wash it, and check it before I through it in the drier. Some stains are gone, but many remain, though faded from their prewashed glory. I rub two stain removers on the still wet stains, wash only whites and add a little bleach. The stains come out of this experience more faded, but holding fast. I give up for today, leave the wet shirt on the washer and move on with my day.
Little do I know that this stubborn shirt is now talking to my own clothes as they hang out together in the laundry room. Now the otherwise average stains on my favorite white shirt no longer come out. And because I know they usually do come out, I don't check the shirt before I through it into the drier, and the stains are set for life.
I guess I'll either inhabit the basement laundry room like a mad scientist, or my family will wear our stained clothing with our heads held high. The stains are clean, we are clean, and gosh darn it, people like us!
I've pretty much always been the laundry-doing half in our marriage, which for the most part is just fine. My husband is a teacher, so occassionally he'll have a pen mark on his pants, or a small coffee spill to deal with. I've got those stains down pretty well. (Pen marks come out after a good dousing of hairspray. Coffee just needs a cocktail of laundry detergent and dish soap -like Dawn NOT cascade.)
Now we've got a soon-to-be two year old. He's a pretty mellow kid overall, and is about as far from the "Pigpen" Peanuts character as you can get without having serious issues. But he's discovered all sorts of things lately, and his clothes have become a storyline for his latest adventures. I think I missed out on the stain removal class in home ec. My mom also forgot to pass down her stain removal expertise. I sit and look at a little white shirt with a Jackson Pollock design of avocado, water paint, Halloween candy shell, and a few mystery components, and I'm at a loss. I treat the whole thing with laundry detergent, scrubbed with a little scrubber brush. I wash it, and check it before I through it in the drier. Some stains are gone, but many remain, though faded from their prewashed glory. I rub two stain removers on the still wet stains, wash only whites and add a little bleach. The stains come out of this experience more faded, but holding fast. I give up for today, leave the wet shirt on the washer and move on with my day.
Little do I know that this stubborn shirt is now talking to my own clothes as they hang out together in the laundry room. Now the otherwise average stains on my favorite white shirt no longer come out. And because I know they usually do come out, I don't check the shirt before I through it into the drier, and the stains are set for life.
I guess I'll either inhabit the basement laundry room like a mad scientist, or my family will wear our stained clothing with our heads held high. The stains are clean, we are clean, and gosh darn it, people like us!
Labels: clean, laundry, monotony, Pigpen, stain remover, stains
¶ 2:29 PM 0 Comments
