Reality Is An Inherent Problem
I paraphrase, but not by much:
It started, since you ask, with chappie being annoyed by the existence of a cruise ship. Says he,
Readers will note that the word wasted is doing some heavy lifting there. That the building of said cruise ship paid the wages of thousands of people, in several cities, for years, and that the crewing and maintenance of said ship pays the wages of thousands more, and that the thousands of passengers aboard it at any given time will be spending large sums of money in any number of tourist destinations, making lives better across the globe, seems to have escaped our indignant chappie’s attention.
But still, he has “he/they” pronouns in his bio. So some markers of status are totally okay, apparently. Chappie tells us that he’s a “Black communicator,” whose podcast “paints a multi-faceted picture of the Black, brown, and Native American experience through story-telling.”
Lifted from the comments, which you’re reading, of course.
Update:
In the comments, EmC quotes this,
And adds,
Or an owner of slaves, perhaps. Some arrangement in which he, Our Obvious Better, doesn’t have to do things that others find of value. Something non-reciprocal.
It’s certainly a mindset that’s quite telling. For instance, this came to mind:
So, for some, the very idea that a grown-up person should pay their debts – or keep their word, or honour their promises – is something to be “defeated.”
Or, adulthood is such a drag.
Update 2:
It’s curious how often such complaints boil down to, “Other people, less fabulous people, should labour for free, for my benefit, until I say otherwise.” Which, it has to be said, is an odd construal of righteousness.
We’ve been here before, of course. As when an unhappy young madam realised, belatedly and with some annoyance, that bills have to be paid, and livings have to be earned. A seemingly overlooked detail that prompted much umbrage and baffled indignation, on grounds that cars and food and houses are things “which we should just be able to have.”
As I said in reply,
Children who, as adults, may then make TikTok videos of themselves bemoaning the fact that they aren’t simply being given a free house, and free food, and a free car, and free petrol for the free car. Children who, as adults, may then seem genuinely bewildered by the prospect of being responsible for the feeding and clothing of any children that they, in turn, might have.
Another thing occurs to me. If pretty much everything you need, or want, should just somehow be there anyway, on an indefinite basis, via some oddly unarticulated rearrangement of the universe, then it’s not obvious how gratitude might fit into such a mindset.
Email any belters. I’m putting together a shortlist. About 80% there.
Does that pay well? Or, at all?
urban garden: fresh veggies r dandy but make up only a fraction of grocery bills. as those who have gardened quip it is a great way to get $5 tomatoes. my friend is an actual farmer but it takes 1000 acres and a tractor to support his family
never have so many pampered people been so ungrateful
All those middle-aged ladies were sexually abused as children?
HAHAHAHA Fair. Barkeep, his tab’s on me.
as those who have gardened quip it is a great way to get $5 tomatoes
I know where you can get tomatoes just like that for three times the price.
One sensible gardening strategy is to cultivate those things that are particularly expensive or perishable or hard to get in good quality. Or that require minimal attention from a working homeowner. Tomatoes can work very well, if you have the right light and soil and rainfall.
Generally speaking, store bought tomatoes suck. Hence the popularity of growing them at home. Something to do with the skins needing to be thicker to survive transportation. That said, a couple weeks ago we ran across some “heirloom tomatoes” that were not attractive to look at but were very good. Sturdier than most garden tomatoes but just as tasty.
The heirloom tomatoes available locally come from Canada . . . and taste like it.
I can vouch for Waitrose on-the-vine cherry tomatoes, which do actually taste of something. Unlike most supermarket tomatoes, the purpose of which escapes me.
As much as I enjoy a good tomato, I’ve never put much thought into what makes them good. These were locally sourced from GA/NC area. When we moved to FL back when I was six, I remember my parents commenting about how bad the Florida tomatoes were relative to Pennsylvania. Whenever I visit friends/relatives in the Pittsburgh area almost all of them grow their own and they are delicious. I’m guessing there’s a latitudinal sweet spot. After having some landscaping completed yesterday I now have a flat/terraced area to possibly grow some tomatoes and other vegetables. If I can keep the damn deer away.
There’s a variety of on-the-vine tomatoes, regular size, that they started selling in Florida and here as well about a dozen or more years ago that are above par. Not much above par though. Curious, you mention having a garden that you enjoy with the squirrels…is that just a flower/aesthetic thing or do you grow any vegetables?
[ Muffled laughter. ]
I’m going to mention that question to The Other Half.
[ Rummages in fridge. ]
No tomatoes of any kind. But there is one of these hefty mothers.
And double cream, obviously.
[ Gloats. ]
I’m in Texas & tomatoes grown locally, when I can find them, are generally very good. Soil? Temperature? Fertiliser? It’s an art.
[ Other Half walks in. ]
[ Unmuffled laughter. ]
Also the flesh must be firmer–otherwise the tomatoes get bruised or mashed while bouncing around during transport. And they must either last longer after picking or be picked before fully ripe. Breeding for durability characteristics means giving up tastiness characteristics.
Something very similar applies to peaches and nectarines and pears.
An art I never learned. Aside from “fill tiny barrels with quality dirt, put along wall of house with good sun exposure, plant seeds, water regularly.”
And watch what doesn’t turn out to be some obnoxious weed wither and die.
Huh? It worked very well for Mom and Grandma.
Those ‘green thumbs’ got lost in the genetic mix.
Heh. No offense but given Texans and their Texan attitudes about everything being Texas sized in Texas, it always amuses me to hear someone say, “In Texas”.
[ Finds mind drifting towards cheesecake in fridge. ]
A cautionary reminder.
[ Glances down at larger- and softer-than-optimal waistline. ]
Not that I would want to imply any holier-than-thou attitude…
[ Ponders socially acceptable size of cheesecake portion. ]
[ Sits on kitchen floor, smearing cheesecake on face. ]
[ Starts feeling nervous. ]
Er…
Also the flesh must be firmer–otherwise the tomatoes get bruised or mashed while bouncing around during transport.
The great thing about tomatoes is they will continue to ripen after you pick them. Leave them out on the counter for a couple of days and they will improve in taste and texture. We pick our home grown cherry tomatoes just before they’re ripe. We have so many of them that they’d quickly go bad otherwise.
We had an excellent yield from just four plants. Pickling cucumbers also did well this year. So far I’ve gotten about 30 lbs of cukes from just 12 vines growing up a trellis by the side of the house. I’ve jarred 8 quarts of kosher dills, 3 quarts of bread and butter pickles, 3 pints of sweet green relish and 3 pints of tangy dill relish. Jalapenos did okay, I got a lot of them but they were smaller than in other years. I’ve jarred 4 pints of pickled jalapenos.
These amounts last us through to the next season. I grow the cucumbers from seed and my wife buys plants for the rest. It all takes up very little space. My cucumbers are in three boxes that are 1 ft x 2 ft each. And the tomatoes and peppers grow in a box that is 2 ft x 4 ft. The cucumber vines grew 9 ft up to the eaves of the house then flopped over and started growing down to reach a length of about 14 ft for each vine. It’s a break even proposition at best, but you can’t beat the taste of home made.
Greek warrior ponders whether to have another slice of cheesecake or to work out for another hour. (Meditation of the Warrior, Archaeological Museum of Rhodes)
Sent.
For me, the caption would be “whether to have hash browns with my breakfast eggs” or “whether to add fried rice to the Chinese takeout order”. I know what I should do, but the little devil on my shoulder whispers so seductively…