Posted on 04/22/2021 6:17:09 PM PDT by CheshireTheCat
A couple of times a month, our office requires us to have “coffee clutch” meetings via Zoom. A manager facilitates these and comes prepared with a topic. The meetings are meant to be social in nature and to help maintain some bonds among employees since we went on work-from-home over a year ago.
For the most part, these meetings are insipid and painful. Not once have I enjoyed them or found any redeeming value in them whatsoever, especially if this one really sarcastic guy who thinks like I do is not there due a scheduling conflict.
Today the manager running the meeting adopted the suggestion of an employee that, in honor of Earth Day, we go around and talk about what we try to do for the planet.
A number of people said they drive a small car, a hybrid car, or try to limit the amount they drive and/or use the econ feature on their cars. Others said they try to eat as vegan as possible. Some said they don’t litter. Still others said they try to make sure they don’t leave the lights or other appliances on when they are not in use. Others recycle, although it sounds as if for the most part it is a requirement in their communities. Finally, some people fill their water bottle or a glass with more water from the Brita pitcher or whatever rather than buy and use a case of water in plastic bottles. Most people named two or more of these things and some sounded quite taken with and proud of themselves for all that they do for mother nature.
Mind you, no one mentioned anything approaching grandness, like doing work on improving trails, growing a lot of their own food, planting trees, taking part in community litter clean ups, etc.
I was quite taken aback that adults would have a conversation about such a thing as what they do to honor Earth Day every day, but I guess I should not be surprised for what passes as acceptable behavior for adults these days. It seems to me, talk about such a matter as Earth Day is best reserved for a 4th grade science class.
I think I successfully perturbed a good number of people with my response. When it got to my turn, I said that I:
1) Drive an SUV that is not a hybrid and drove it all over the place this weekend visiting people and doing errands for people that involved transporting things not easily transported in a regular car. And I had a damn good time doing so.
2) Eat meat every single day except when not fasting for religious reasons.
3) Do not recycle as of November when the condo complex voted to get rid of it, which has made things easier for the many elderly who live here, both due to the cost and their mobility issues.
4) Turn off lights and appliances when I leave a room because I want to save money on electricity and wear and tear on the appliance, not because I give a rip about the planet.
5) Do not litter because I was raised not to and because decent people just don’t do that and the planet’s possible feelings about littering do not even enter my mind.
6) Use the econ feature in the car because doing so might save me 60 bucks a year, which I can use to buy a couple of pheasants to eat.
7) Limit my bottled water drinking because plastic bottles contain chemicals that can harm my personal environment, aka my body, not because I care about the actual environment.
8) Grow my own herbs on the porch.
It seems a few people looked dumbfounded or embarrassed, but the problem with Zoom is that is not as easy to read facial expressions as when one is in the same room with people. The two people whose turn it was after my turn were left with keeping their responses very brief and just saying that they do a lot of the things already mentioned.
I work in an industrial chemical manufacturing plant so insipid virtue signalers learn to be quiet early in their career. And there are enough sarcastic a-holes (like me) that stuff like Earth Day confessions rarely happen
I like to grill big, fat grass-fed ribeye steaks for my family on Erf Day. I celebrated a couple of days early because I keep confusing it with 4/20, the pot-smoker’s holiday. There’s a lot of overlap between the population sectors that celebrate those two things, so I keep mixing up the dates.
Well, we’re retired, but I think our lawn maintenance guys are on board, lol. They come on Thursdays and yesterday they had TWO guys using evil gasoline-powered trimmers and blowers. Normally they only use one guy.
Two Items: I have a sign in my cubicle ‘Large Carbon Footprint Makes For Happy Trees.’ Drives the libs crazy, and once in a blue moon I get to educate them on the Carbon Cycle, how CO2 really is Plant Food.
Re: hairspray cans. When our mom was done with the hairspray can, we would rake up all the back yard leaves into a huuuge pile. My dad made sure me and my 6 brothers and sisters were inside the house. He would make a big fire and throw the empty spray can into the fire. Heck of a bang! Way fun!
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