While on facebook, I posted a question asking about the largest contributor to the problems of the world. Some gave one-to-two-worded answers ("greed" and "poverty" are two popular choices), although someone did say something about apathy, to which is something I can see.
However, for me, it's more of a source of annoyance than anything else, which is why I posted the left image on two common areas in my building.
It seems that people simply do not know how to read or are just too lazy and expect others to clean up after them. On two occasions, I have spotted two items tossed with reckless abandon in the trash disposal areas. I have a big enough beef with recyclable items such as used clothing and obsolete electronics getting turfed, but even more so when they are placed in random areas in the pretense that someone else will find use for them.
In previous years, some municipalities would hold "clean-up weeks", in which people would put out mass amounts of supposedly reusable items like old televisions and furniture, however, it became abused, as items not allowed (old refrigerators, construction debris) was also put out. This may be another holdover from that mentality, which unfortunately doesn't really work.
When charitable organizations and proper recycling facilities exist, it upsets me when they are not used and the onus is placed on people who are ultimately not the ones responsible for creating the mess in the first place.
But then, it could also argue that this is also a form of apathy.
Friday, July 13, 2007
30.
(birthday roda at the Fintry campgrounds, July 6, 2007)
Yes, I have hit that purportedly painful milestone in my life, where I am now officially in a different demographic. Certain expectations in life really were supposed to have been fulfilled by now, such as marriage, solidly established career, home ownership, level of education, and the ability to pay off bills that are slightly more advanced than a cell phone bill.
Depending on one's scale for "life expectancy" (that is, what one's expected to do in life), I "might" be doing okay, although I'm still renting and I'm not married yet. That, and I don't have a really established career per se, having changed jobs about three times since turning 29, although I really do like the company I'm working with...they even got me a birthday cake when I wasn't there, which we all shared after the fact. They also got me a card which joked about Godzilla being the only one capable of lighting all the candles on the cake.
Turning 30 might not actually be as bad as it seems, as I still don't feel any different than I did when I was 29. Sure, I have more responsibilities and there are certain things that are expected of me. However, the fact that my girlfriend points out the fact that I have more grey hairs sprouting out of my skull than she does is a reminder that I am not "young" anymore. Thankfully, due to the Asian age formula (take the age which you look, add five), I can still pass for mid-20s. Unless I show them my ID.
However, I'm going to fake it as long as I can. Eat properly, no smoking or excessive drinking, exercising regularly, and playing as many video games as my extremely busy schedule will allow.
Easier said than done. I have work to do still!
