No matter how much it vexes me to waste food, nothing perturbs me more than the economic construct we use every day. It seems to me that if I were an owner of a company, apart from being much happier spending more time with my wife, I would have certain aspects of my company work differently than most. Lets take a gander at some examples.
1. If it were a clothing company: the damaged goods that were either rendered in the process of making the clothing, and damaged goods received back from stores would go to the needy and the poor. Whether distributed by my own company or by a 3rd party that specializes in getting things to the needy wouldn't matter to me.
2. If it were a food company (I'm thinking more like the ones in malls): I would keep track of the numbers, and setup a general average of how much to make of certain items throughout the day; so when it got close to the end of the day, we wouldn't have so much waste. However, this is the part that bothers me. I accidentally got a worker in trouble today because I asked for some of the pretzels that Pretzel Time were throwing away. I was informed that they could not do that (even though I'd been given pretzels many times before) and that the employee who had been giving out pretzels at the end of the day would be written up. That any employee who gave out pretzels would be charged $50 per pretzels. Does this only seem ridiculous to me? Firstly, they shouldn't have that much to throw out if they keep track of numbers correctly. Secondly, I'm sure the dough for those pretzels cost no where near $50. Thirdly, (And my biggest disagreement) How can a company be so selfish, as to rather THROW AWAY food, then give it away. Either way, they get no money for it. I would give it away.
The world in all its greed and selfishness would rather throw away a product than give it away. Congratulations Pretzel Time, you're the kid in the cafeteria who throws away his extra pizza that he didn't have room for instead of giving it to his friend (who would gladly eat it). Because we are indeed your friends. We buy your Pretzels, we fund your employee's salaries, and most importantly, we keep you in business.
I understand that this could cause problems. Dishonest employees making more then needed to hookup friends and family would most definitely occur. This would fall under the other list of items that companies have problems with anyways: Theft. But that's a topic for another day.
Sadly, though I condone it on a large scale, I fall subject to the vice of selfishness all too often. My parents raised me well. Taught to take care of others before myself. To want not. To share what I had with those in need. They taught me, in a word, selflessness. Yet to this day I take care of my needs first. I desire the luxuries of the world. I keep to myself, when I should give. I am, in a word, selfish.
My wife on the other hand is the exact opposite. It's a good thing she loves me enough to put up with me while I work to become more like her, and like Christ.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Thursday, April 30, 2009
But Be, As You Have Been, My Happiness...
Bob Newhart once said: "Laughter gives us distance. It allows us to step back from an event, deal with it and then move on." How true it is. Unfortunately, for my lovely wife, I have a hard time laughing in instances where I should. Instead, I get angry, argumentative, and have to win the battle of the ego's. This troublesome habit is what broke us up when we were dating, and though we overcame it then, it seems to have come back to once again smite me with discontentment.
I know learning to live with someone is difficult. I did it for 2 years on the mission. But it seems to me it's still just a matter of communication. Whether it's doing things differently or pet peeves that need to be found, any of these, as I see it, can be solved by talking, and then demonstrating the desire to change.
Yet again, this is where my stupid ego-driven self comes in. Whenever something happens, I get so locked in the idea, that I am right, and she needs to see WHY I'm right...that I don't stop, sit back, laugh, and then work through it. No, instead I seem to be a master at peaking arguments and leaving each other angry until we both come back and work it out. Yes, problems get solved, but what I don't like is being angry at someone--especially my wife. We sit away from each other or sit close but don't talk, just do something else...until we both calm down enough to approach the matter more sensibly. I HATE the time we waste while we're angry. Time we get to spend with each other right now is limited as it is, so to be arguing amidst that time seems to be trivial.
My wife is amazing. I couldn't have done better for myself. I guess this is just part of the troubleshooting phase. I just hope she continues to be the patient, understanding woman she is to me, until I can get over myself. I love you Jillian.
I know learning to live with someone is difficult. I did it for 2 years on the mission. But it seems to me it's still just a matter of communication. Whether it's doing things differently or pet peeves that need to be found, any of these, as I see it, can be solved by talking, and then demonstrating the desire to change.
Yet again, this is where my stupid ego-driven self comes in. Whenever something happens, I get so locked in the idea, that I am right, and she needs to see WHY I'm right...that I don't stop, sit back, laugh, and then work through it. No, instead I seem to be a master at peaking arguments and leaving each other angry until we both come back and work it out. Yes, problems get solved, but what I don't like is being angry at someone--especially my wife. We sit away from each other or sit close but don't talk, just do something else...until we both calm down enough to approach the matter more sensibly. I HATE the time we waste while we're angry. Time we get to spend with each other right now is limited as it is, so to be arguing amidst that time seems to be trivial.
My wife is amazing. I couldn't have done better for myself. I guess this is just part of the troubleshooting phase. I just hope she continues to be the patient, understanding woman she is to me, until I can get over myself. I love you Jillian.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
If You Scatter Thorns, Don't Go Barefoot.
Evidently our stockroom at the not so eco-friendly Hollister is short of a few babies, cribs, and other younglings. Every week I receive shipments of clothes to process. Amongst these boxes of shipment are sometimes hundreds of individually wrapped shirts, shorts, and other assorted items. Apart from taking more of my time to get them out of the plastic wrap, I couldn't help but notice the huge warning label on the wrapper; making sure I know, that I should not leave it lying around for babies to play with, put in cribs, or in some other way leave these wrappers around for children to suffocate themselves. Upon reading this, I chuckled and glanced around the stockroom, and much to my surprise...there were babies everywhere!!! Obviously this is a farce. But apart from the fact that Hollister would most definitely have a problem with babies roaming free around the stockroom, I really see no point in them wasting time and money not only to individually wrap these shirts, but prevent me from causing unwanted baby deaths.
Since my last post, much has transpired. For one: I am now a married man. I survived the wedding day and made it to the honeymoon, where I indeed, was as lazy as possible, and spent all the time I could with my precious wife. We ventured to lake Tahoe for our honeymoon, where we spent the week in Aunt Vickie's(sp?) cabin which they so graciously let us use. It was a beautiful place, unfortunately...or fortunately, it snowed. And there isn't much to do there when it's cold, besides of course, the usual honeymoon activities. Toward the end of the week we made our exodus further into California, where we spent a night with her (and my new) Grandparents. We also had the pleasure of participating in what seemed like a family reunion at the Village Buffet (awesome place). I had a delightful time talking to all my new relatives and getting to know them. I was also happy to find that my family was not the only crazy bunch, and perhaps it won't be quite a shock for Jillian when she meets my family. All family matters aside, California is a beautiful state, and I would not mind going back.
Now life is back in it's normal boring state. Aside from the occasional accidental call to 911 while at work, everything is very monotonous. Hopefully I'll soon be able to do my freelancing Graphic Design full-time with the help of some new found friends in the business at our ward. Sitting at home doing something I enjoy for 40 hours a week, I can hardly call a job. But it will do more then pay the bills if I'm able to do so. Jillian would be able to quit one of her jobs, affording her more time at home =D, and we'd be able to put a rather large amount of money into savings, for school and anything else the future might hold for us. Who knows, maybe Jillian will even let me have a baby sometime. I'll just have to stop bringing home Hollister shirt wrappers and leaving them lying around the house.
Since my last post, much has transpired. For one: I am now a married man. I survived the wedding day and made it to the honeymoon, where I indeed, was as lazy as possible, and spent all the time I could with my precious wife. We ventured to lake Tahoe for our honeymoon, where we spent the week in Aunt Vickie's(sp?) cabin which they so graciously let us use. It was a beautiful place, unfortunately...or fortunately, it snowed. And there isn't much to do there when it's cold, besides of course, the usual honeymoon activities. Toward the end of the week we made our exodus further into California, where we spent a night with her (and my new) Grandparents. We also had the pleasure of participating in what seemed like a family reunion at the Village Buffet (awesome place). I had a delightful time talking to all my new relatives and getting to know them. I was also happy to find that my family was not the only crazy bunch, and perhaps it won't be quite a shock for Jillian when she meets my family. All family matters aside, California is a beautiful state, and I would not mind going back.
Now life is back in it's normal boring state. Aside from the occasional accidental call to 911 while at work, everything is very monotonous. Hopefully I'll soon be able to do my freelancing Graphic Design full-time with the help of some new found friends in the business at our ward. Sitting at home doing something I enjoy for 40 hours a week, I can hardly call a job. But it will do more then pay the bills if I'm able to do so. Jillian would be able to quit one of her jobs, affording her more time at home =D, and we'd be able to put a rather large amount of money into savings, for school and anything else the future might hold for us. Who knows, maybe Jillian will even let me have a baby sometime. I'll just have to stop bringing home Hollister shirt wrappers and leaving them lying around the house.
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