Christmas is supposed to be the season of giving. Well we give and give until our credit cards are left breathless and panting, and we have no more money to spend on those cute boots that just won't seem to go on sale or that new game console we hope our relative will buy us as our Christmas gift.
Well think again my friends. The whole "giving season" isn't about giving to your relatives who are spending an equal bucket load (and then some) on your gifts. We have reached a point in consumerism where we literally have everything we need and everything we want and are now just accumulating, well, things. Things and things and things. Enough is enough and we certainly have enough. I mean, there's nothing wrong with wanting things but when does it end? When do we stop this craziness and this need for sales so we can buy more things that we don't need and lets face it, don't actually really want?
Well, let me focus your attention to Durant Avenue, Berkeley, California.
My favorite homeless man (yes I have a favorite) sits outside of Top Dog about a quarter of a mile from where I live. He is there every single day and with a smile on his face, greeting each passerby. He has a cup in his hand awaiting donations. But you know what, whether or not you empty out your change in his little styrofoam cup, he will bid you a kind farewell with a "Have a nice day" or "May God bless you". You carry on with your day. You don't give him a second thought. He sits. He waits. Repeats. Day in and day out.
You don't spare a dollar that you'll probably spend on a... hell you can't even buy anything with a dollar anymore. But that's not the point. He gave you everything he had to offer... a kind word. It's fine that you didn't give him any money. That's not the point either (It's coming I promise).
Well, this said homeless man, who greets me with a special smile ever since I give him some graham crackers out of the bag I was eating, has a special place on my favorite-hobo-ranking-list. (No there is not a physical list, it's a mental thing).
Anyways. As I cleaned up my room for winter break, I realized I had boxes of granola bars sitting in a bin under my bed in my dorm. I'm never going to eat those bars. They taste like soap because I failed to realize that putting them in an enclosed bin with my laundry detergent was a bad idea.
So, (here it is people, the great enlightenment) I figured why not give my neglected granola bars to this man sitting out in the cold (who I am sure will not care or realize they taste like laundry detergent) while I'm suffocating in the warmth of my room with the heater on full blast. If you think this is a tale told to boast you're greatly mistaken. To me, these granola bars mean nothing. They're trash. Yes, it's unfortunate that what is worthless to me is a pot of gold for somebody else. But that's the way of the world dear reader.
On with my tale, as I walked over to hand a bag of granola bars to this man (who's name I am yet to learn) I felt a bit nervous, not knowing how he would react. Perhaps he would be insulted and I would be taking a jab at his pride. But then again, maybe not. If you don't try, you won't know. So I walked over to him, he greeted me with that million dollar smile, and I asked him if he'd like some granola bars. Smiling, and a tad shocked, he said yes I would thank you. And as I reached my hand into the bag and grabbed a handful of bars (because what would the other hobos think if I didn't save them some) his eyes widened and he said "all of this?" Mind you, it was four of five bars... But he looked at me like 5 year old boy on Christmas morning who just got that toy he really wanted but hadn't told his parents about. I felt great, he was happy, it all worked out splendidly. But as I walked back feeling as if I'm all of a sudden a good person and that I did a good deed, I realized that honestly, that really does not make me a good person, just like walking by him everyday an not even sparing a dime doesn't make me a bad one. Shouldn't we always be doing good deeds? Shouldn't we stop being so selfish all the time and think of somebody other than ourselves? Well, yes. The answer is yes.
So next time you go into Target and spend $200 more than you meant to, throw an extra box of granola bars and give them to a homeless person on the street. After all, they can't buy drugs with a couple of granola bars right? (You know, since apparently all hobos do drugs and buy drugs with the change you give them which is actually your excuse of never giving... ya)
This feels a bit pretentious (it was not meant to be). And I was told to shorten it. I didn't.
So if you made it to the end, well you made it.
Happy Holidays. Merry Christmas.
I have one page left to write of my 10 page paper for tomorrow morning. Send a prayer my way if you will.
SH
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Thursday, December 5, 2013
What I've Learned in College (Like say NO to Shark Fin Soup)
Well here I am about two weeks away from completing my first semester at the University of California, Berkeley. Sounds so grandiose when you say it like that, but I guess it actually is. You'll be glad to know (I presume) that I am absolutely loving it here. I'm surrounded by unbelievably knowledgeable peers and truly inspiring teachers. Everyone here has something to say and has different knowledge about different things and they are always ready to share this knowledge. And the greatest part is that all conversations here have substance and you walk away learning something new or gaining a new perspective. Like just now as I was walking back to my dorm from class, I overheard a discussion on how fusion music is only fusion music because of corporate producers who created the idea of "genre" and how in Beethoven's time there was no such thing... This place just has so much intellect and knowledge to offer.
Let me start off by telling you a bit about my classes. My history of capitalism class has been so mind-broadening and informative. My teacher (or rather "professor"), a young quirky woman, is rather inspiring and has taught me a great deal. For example, did you know the introduction of the banana into our daily diet (fairly recently actually) was a means to a capitalistic end. I also now know how the 2008 financial crisis came about and the significance of the tupperware industry, as well as the difference in value of greasy beaver fur and nongreasy.
In my comparative literature class we have discussed everything from sexuality and homosexuality, to memory and social order. My skinny little male french professor (who's sexuality I continue to question) has opened up my mind to different dimensions of thinking. I can now say I have completed five volumes of Proust, with its endless sentences and rather confusing, out of order, disturbed trains of thought. I have also come to discover that Virginia Woolf is not quite my cup of tea.
In my Peace and Conflict studies class I have learned that not going to war is not a solution to war because sometimes that causes more tensions and more problems. With mock simulations (where I was Germany), I have learned about different ways peace can be attained, if it is actually attainable and about international intervention in sovereign states. I have also learned never to eat shark fin soup (they kill the whole shark for just the fin!!) and that the Internet actually has a physical presence (hidden in a windowless building somewhere in Florida and Los Angeles). I've learned all about piracy in Somalia and African theories of peace and justice, and Islam, Buddhism, warlordism, and most importantly, the laws of war (yes those exist... kind of).
But of all I have learned, what my greatest lesson has been is that the more I learn, the more I realize I don't know and want to know. I am left with more and more questions.
I have noticed as I write this that the pronoun "I" has been quite repetitive. Well college is a time of the "I" and figuring yourself out and who you are, what you stand for, and who you want to become. Nevertheless, I (there it is again) have learned a great deal about others, with different cultures and religions, from all parts of the world. I have learned the correct pronunciations of the word "Pakistan" and "karaoke" (a highly mispronounced word). I have learned that people can (or rather, will), indeed, smoke weed in class while class is going. I have come to realize that befriending homeless people can be rather, well, harmless and sharing your snacks with them is okay (really, it's not going to kill you). But I have also learned that they can intoxicatedly follow you to your building or get arrested for exposing themselves in your courtyard (ha...).
I'm in the final stretch of 1/8th of my college career. Quite exciting (sort of?).
Well as I have chosen to write a 10-12 page paper in lieu of a final exam for my history class, I must now research Starbucks and expose its capitalistic ways. After that I will write an 8 page paper on the Armenian genocide and the denial of its factually proven existence.
I'm quite excited. Seriously.
PS There is a freeze warning for the Bay Area tonight to tomorrow so in case I turn into a popsicle, it's been a pleasure...
Have a splendid, intellectually stimulating day!
Signing off
SH
Let me start off by telling you a bit about my classes. My history of capitalism class has been so mind-broadening and informative. My teacher (or rather "professor"), a young quirky woman, is rather inspiring and has taught me a great deal. For example, did you know the introduction of the banana into our daily diet (fairly recently actually) was a means to a capitalistic end. I also now know how the 2008 financial crisis came about and the significance of the tupperware industry, as well as the difference in value of greasy beaver fur and nongreasy.
In my comparative literature class we have discussed everything from sexuality and homosexuality, to memory and social order. My skinny little male french professor (who's sexuality I continue to question) has opened up my mind to different dimensions of thinking. I can now say I have completed five volumes of Proust, with its endless sentences and rather confusing, out of order, disturbed trains of thought. I have also come to discover that Virginia Woolf is not quite my cup of tea.
In my Peace and Conflict studies class I have learned that not going to war is not a solution to war because sometimes that causes more tensions and more problems. With mock simulations (where I was Germany), I have learned about different ways peace can be attained, if it is actually attainable and about international intervention in sovereign states. I have also learned never to eat shark fin soup (they kill the whole shark for just the fin!!) and that the Internet actually has a physical presence (hidden in a windowless building somewhere in Florida and Los Angeles). I've learned all about piracy in Somalia and African theories of peace and justice, and Islam, Buddhism, warlordism, and most importantly, the laws of war (yes those exist... kind of).
But of all I have learned, what my greatest lesson has been is that the more I learn, the more I realize I don't know and want to know. I am left with more and more questions.
I have noticed as I write this that the pronoun "I" has been quite repetitive. Well college is a time of the "I" and figuring yourself out and who you are, what you stand for, and who you want to become. Nevertheless, I (there it is again) have learned a great deal about others, with different cultures and religions, from all parts of the world. I have learned the correct pronunciations of the word "Pakistan" and "karaoke" (a highly mispronounced word). I have learned that people can (or rather, will), indeed, smoke weed in class while class is going. I have come to realize that befriending homeless people can be rather, well, harmless and sharing your snacks with them is okay (really, it's not going to kill you). But I have also learned that they can intoxicatedly follow you to your building or get arrested for exposing themselves in your courtyard (ha...).
I'm in the final stretch of 1/8th of my college career. Quite exciting (sort of?).
Well as I have chosen to write a 10-12 page paper in lieu of a final exam for my history class, I must now research Starbucks and expose its capitalistic ways. After that I will write an 8 page paper on the Armenian genocide and the denial of its factually proven existence.
I'm quite excited. Seriously.
PS There is a freeze warning for the Bay Area tonight to tomorrow so in case I turn into a popsicle, it's been a pleasure...
Have a splendid, intellectually stimulating day!
Signing off
SH
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