Month: November 2010 (Page 3 of 3)

I read that South America used to produce hundreds and thousands of varieties of potatoes. Different sizes, colors (even purple!) and each had its own use. Apparently each was so distinct in flavor that you didn’t just toss the cheapest 10 lb bag in your cart when you knew you’d be making french fries, potato salad and veggie soup that week. Each potato had purpose.

The author of the book expressed sadness for the extinct potato flavors, and actually an entire movement (Slow Food) shares concern for indigenous foods of a region that have been lost to mass production of staple crops (ie, the evil corn and soy). It seems like a bit of an extravagant cause when we consider the people who die each year for lack of clean water… I mean, do we need more than 5 potato flavors? But I suppose for those who truly appreciate food in all its forms, rather than just covered with butter or sour cream, it could be a party stopper to have flavorless spuds.

However, a few nights after reading this, I was still hung up on the issue. I even asked husband, “why is it a good thing to have diversity and variety?” I’m not just talking about in the workforce and equality issues, but rather the overarching idea – to what benefit does the world from diversity?

Tonight at youth group we touched on it a bit, the topic of doing what we should vs. what people want us to. I got caught up in the subtopic of it all (well, for my group, that is. Other groups may not have ventured into this water):  do people respect someone who stands up for what they believe is right? Why is it that we don’t want to be noticed as different?

My senior year in college I took 7 of my closest friends (in a van, 18 hours, to Miami, to leave) on a cruise. By “took” I mean that I drove 87.6% of the way. I could offer up no less than 8 hilarious stories from the week, but instead I share a memory stuck in my head and could never figure out why. In our group there were 2 redheads, 2 black girls and one that looked european, like a Mediterranean sweetheart (fitting, since she married one and lives there now). I only mention our different looks because one afternoon several of us strategized how to bake in the sun as much as humanly possible. As we mentioned this to the group, the 2 black girls mentioned that they did not want to sun the afternoon away. (JP actually made a statement about it that was hilariously funny but that when read out of context, could be taken in a wrong way… so, I’m employing some of those so-called “editing skills.”)

I was struck by how the white girls wanted to get darker and the dark girls wanted to get whiter. Pretty much, we all wanted to look like Cara. (Ha, I kid. Though she is gorgeous). But seriously. Does a magic ideal of middle ground exist just beyond our conscience? Do we conform to something that we can’t even name, only for the sake of not being different?

Why do we mourn the lost differences in potato flavors but aim our life toward a basic brown Idaho?

Something much deeper lies below our potato desires. No singular perfect potato exists and by pretending that one will fulfill all our needs just invalidates our hunger. Even more, it’s like telling God that his time and effort into creating more beauty in the world was a waste.

The question runs deeper and this post does not provide a satisfactory answer. I know, you ask, why did I read this far and you STILL not provide a hypothesis? But I turn it back to you: Why is diversity good? What does the world benefit from differences – between potatoes and people?
Talk amongst yourself.

It’s not just a skill, it’s a way of life. I have taken thrifty to a whole new level in the past several years. Reusing ziploc baggies? They return to their home on top of the fridge each day. Returning any and all unused and unsatisfactory items, even if for store credit at Meijer? I’ve got 3 gift cards to prove it. And the home made laundry soap? Well, husband prefers not to talk about that (though I maintain its superiority to the store-bought and just purchased the makings for another round). Fortunately for me I can hide under this current “green” movement, masking my escapades in a venture to live more “sustainably.”

You can look in the obvious places to see that you’re livin’ on low funds – checkbook, wallet, change jar on the dryer – but I realized today that the real proof of tight pursestrings comes when gazing in a few other realms.

1. The closet. I’ve remarked on this before. I may have requested assistance. 

2. The itunes library.  When every album you pull up triggers a fond college memory, perhaps we’ve hit an expiration date. Especially when you’ve been out of college longer than you were in it. Really, they’re not all “classics.” (*Freebie: this may also fall onto a list called “places to look when confirming that you are indeed OLD.”)

3. The fridge. A flashing red light would be a condiments-only situation. But the more common landmark? Leftovers. Everywhere. And you know it’s intentional when old (not moldy) bread remains for the sake of bread pudding or french toast.

4. Gas gauge. Again with the college-like behaviors, only putting in the minimum to get you where you’re going. And here’s another “green” facade: I was once told your car is actually more efficient running on an emptier tank as it’s not hauling all the weight. I live by this mantra when I refrain from filling up more so out of laziness or foul weather than actual lack of funds (Brent, if you’re reading this and you have actual, tangible proof it’s a lie, I beseech you: keep that info to yourself). But really, with the Kroger Plus discount (now available at the Shell at the end of my road!) and it going on plastic anyway, there’s no excuse. Sidebar: my family regularly keeps ongoing count and tally of the Kroger Plus points as to know what kind of gas discount to look forward to that month. I’ve been doomed to penny-crunching from the time I was in the womb.

5. Amazon wish list. Ah, what to buy if we could remove price from the equation. And one can buy anything on Amazon. Or, perhaps the list serves as a reminder for those people who seem to have a more readily supply of funds when it comes Christmas-time. Shameless admission: amazon wishlisting sits in my top 5 favorite hobbies list. It’s a beautiful addiction, I recommend you try it.

One of my favorite memories of Slim Searfoss involved, mid-conversation, his head perking up at the mention of cake. “Cake?!” he said, with eyes as round as cupcakes. I’m not sure why that fancies me, but it still makes me smile. Yes, cake.

Really, that story has nothing to do with this post.

I’m tired of hearing the politician commercials. I have yet to hear one that really demonstrates that the candidate is any different from his/her opponent by citing actual examples of success. Though I do kind-of enjoy the Christine Whoever from some-other-state clip where she adamantly insists “I am not a witch.” Perhaps because none of the other candidates clearly described their lack of witching she might get a leg up.

But back to cake.

Other than the lack of proven success examples in the commercials, another common theme seems to be finger pointing about jobs. It seems that everyone’s opponent sent jobs overseas in their time serving Ohio. Now, being in the staffing industry, I can attest to the drop off in jobs over the past 2 years. Heck, if you have a neighbor within a 10 mile radius you can probably tell a story of woe concerning job loss. We’ve all felt it. I’m not convinced that any industry was immune to the effects.

However, though we all like to point as many fingers as we can, I think “we the people” need to put on our big-kid pants and take a little ownership of our problem.

We don’t like that our jobs are going overseas, but we also don’t like to pay a steep price for our everyday goods. For example, I love me some Old Navy clothes. Particularly I’ve got a thing for coats lately (oh, the ruffles. Or toggle buttons. Could I get away with orange?), and at 50% off, average price $30-45, who doesn’t? Now, one reason I enjoy the Old Navy shopping experience is because I can typically find something delightful – and that I can afford with the gift card my mother gave me. But one way that ON keeps my pocketbook happy is the fact that the clothing is typically made by a Guatermelon or tyke in another 3rd world country (whole different post about fair trade issues and ethics associated). Though we (ha! I suddenly became a part of the team! Do I get an employee discount?) do employ some corporate folk in Ohio, I’m guessing the payroll numbers largely span the globe. Why? Because clothing creation involves factory-setting, tedious work. Lots of cutting and stitching and general tasks that breaks nails and causes blisters. And in the US, for someone to be willing to do that work, the price will be at least $8/hr plus benefits. When you start adding up the number of ON across the country, multiply that by the number of garments and then divide by the number of people needed to stitch them up and then multiply that by $8/hr, the price of my new coat will have rapidly increased. All of a sudden Old Navy is Banana Republic. (Now, wait a second…).

Same can be said about any general staple item that we purchase on a daily basis that comes from overseas.

Now, let me offer a possible solution: rather than cutting costs at the bottom (the lowest wage earners), I suppose we could cut costs at the top of the pyramid. If ol’ Les were to take a bit less in wage, perhaps there would be more to pay the workers AND keep prices at a relative minimum. But that’s not the American way. The American way is to get as rich as you possibly can. Aided by buying inexpensive coats.

And then blame the politicans for the loss of jobs and a tanking economy.

I know, I know, there are tons of holes to my theory (including “the right to earn as much as you can” and spend as little of it possible on coats). Alls I’m saying is, if we want our cake of jobs, we might have to pay a price before we’re able to eat it, too.