Friday, July 19, 2013

Getting To Know You

I will be returning to my tax form job soon, so I have been trying to squeeze in a bit more blog writing before the inevitable lack of free time comes along. I am excited to be going back, but also a little sad about less time to myself.

As a shy sort of person, I don't become close to very many people. That's not to say that I don't enjoy being around people. In fact, I would say I like being around people more often than not. The problem arises when it comes to trusting people. More than once in my life, I have gotten close to someone, only to be severely hurt by that person later on. That's why it's hard for me to get close to people. The logic goes like this - If you share your innermost feelings and secrets with someone, that person can use those things against you if you have a falling out. I not only keep most of my feelings and secrets to myself, but just about everything about me, because I am extra cautious.

The problem with this logic is that you may be safe from getting hurt, but you also never feel the joy and connection that can come from being close to people. Sometimes I wish I could break through my shyness and really connect with other people, then other times I remember the horrible hurt that others can dish out. So I suppose it is wise to be careful with your thoughts and feelings, and to look for people who have an aura of kindness about them. (I have always been drawn to really nice people who don't judge, and I strive to be that same kind of person.) But ultimately, you will always have to take that leap of faith if you want to connect with someone.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Pointless Paperlessness

I may have written about this subject before, but I get forgetful in my old age, and frankly, I don't think anyone cares if I repeat myself. So here it goes.....

So many businesses are advocating "going paperless" these days, and I can't understand what all the hype is about. They want you to get e-mail statements instead of getting a bill or statement mailed to you. I understand that companies do this to save money on mailing, but what exactly is the benefit to me? According to the companies, the benefit is less paper clutter for me and I am helping the environment by using less paper. I don't buy that for a second. Let me tell you why.

Going paperless doesn't create less clutter for me because I would have to print out a copy of all my documents for my files. If anything, that is more wasteful because I have to buy incredibly expensive ink for my printer when a big company could print off millions of statements for a fraction of the cost. I guess I could file my documents electronically on the the computer, but that makes me very nervous for a couple of reasons. One, the computer could crash and I could loose all my information. Two, I am much better at organizing files when I have a physical copy. Things seem to get lost and forgotten in the cyber world. Finally, I don't like the idea of receiving personal information through e-mail. Most e-mail is not very secure, and if the information is not directly in the e-mail and I have to sign into a website to get my statement, that is, again, more work for me.

I also don't buy into the idea that going paperless is helping the environment. Even if I decided to get all my statements electronically, I would still go out to my mailbox and find huge wads of ads stuffed in there EVERY DAY. I don't ask for these ads, and they usually go straight into the recycling bin before I even look at them. It seems very inappropriate to say that my tiny amount of bills is hurting the environment when companies are sending out truckloads of ads that people don't even want.

I have been resisting the paperless craze for a while now, but I may give in someday when it becomes impossible to resist the forward flow of new technology. Call me old fashioned, but I am reluctant to rely on any sort of technology too much. So until companies absolutely refuse to send me a paper statement, I will take paper, and let them provide a small service to me for being a customer.

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Small and Simple

I have always liked restaurants or businesses that are small. I'm not sure what it is about them. Sure you get more personalized service, but there is also a difference in the quality of the products. It's like when you start to mass-produce something, it looses a bit of what made it special in the first place. The attention to detail is lacking, and the quality suffers for it.

In this day of assembly lines and mass productions, businesses want their products to be all the same so they can guarantee the same quality to everyone. I have even heard of pigs being genetically engineered to be all the same so that the slaughtering machines will cut them in the same place. But what these people don't understand, is that taking the randomness out of a process creates even bigger problems. Problems like the genetically-altered pigs being so susceptible to disease that they have to be isolated in specially-built, climate-controlled buildings. Problems like poor-quality wood from growing trees too fast to be harvested. Problems like antibiotic-resistant bacteria from trying to kill every single bacteria in our food. Problems like massive waste because products aren't made to last, so we just keep constantly buying new ones. Problems like resources lost towards packaging and transporting food.

I wish we could have more small businesses around, but the hard fact is that big businesses make it nearly impossible for small ones to thrive. I don't think humans will change the path they are on until something tragic happens, and even then it may be too late to turn back. All I can do it my little part to buy locally, recycle, and waste as little as possible. Who knows if it will be enough?