Privilege

Shopping at Rainbow, a nearby grocery store, often proves to be a humbling reminder of how privileged a life I lead. A few weeks ago, the cashier asked the gentleman in front of me if he wanted to become a Roundy’s Reward member: ‘It only takes a few minutes and all you need is a name and phone number’. “Well”, he replied, “that answers that, I don’t have a phone.” He seemed like a very nice guy, it’s hard for me to imagine, though, what that life would be like not being able to afford a phone. Admittedly, I could be wrong in assuming that - he may very well choose not to have a phone, I’m just drawing my conclusion based on his state of dress, and also that he paid with cash and not plastic.

I rarely see plastic cards used at Rainbow, it seems like most shoppers are 'just getting by' financially. It’s strange, picturing that, because I’ve never needed to worry about having money to buy groceries - on this particular day I remember I didn’t even look at my total bill, just swiped my card and moved on. Definitely a life of privilege.

Honor vs Obligation

For the first time, this year I was privileged to march with the Minnehaha faculty and staff for graduation. I’ve looked forward to this event for 5 years, and now, finally, with my fancy college degree, I could don a black robe and look smart.

While all faculty are required to walk in the procession, staff are not, and, in fact, very few staff ever choose to. So it’s an interesting difference in perspective: for the faculty who have been around for a long time, this march has become just another obligation, whereas for me it was a great honor, an event I’ve anticipated for years.

No More Yellow Pages

A few weeks ago I came home and found a massive pile of Phone Books on my front door step. Okay, it was only two books, but in my mind I was screaming at the injustice - why kill a tree to print a useless book that I'm just going to recycle and never use?

I found another blogger who adamantly agrees with me:

http://www.thedeets.com/2008/06/16/how-to-unsubscribe-from-the-yellow-pages/


And he turned me on to this site to opt out of phone book delivery. I signed up. I hope it works.

http://www.yellowpagesgoesgreen.org/

Time for a Promotion

In The Devil Wears Prada, Nigel tells Anne Hathaway's character, "Let me know when your entire life goes up in smoke, then it's time for a promotion."

That quote has stuck with me ever since, because, well, last summer I pretty much devoted my entire life to work, and while the paychecks were very nice (I'm paid hourly, plus time-and-a-half overtime), I've made a deliberate effort since then to not let work consume me; my personal life needs to take priority, otherwise I run a very real risk of becoming a workaholic. The Devil Wears Prada resonated with me so strongly because, in the end, Anne's character finally makes this decision for herself, as well; moreso, we even see a glimpse of jealousy from Miranda, her [former] overtaxing boss. Miranda lost her family and has no real friends because she could not escape the lifestyle of the rich and famous and successful - that's not where I want to see my life going.