Birthday

(Matt's Voice)

I really don't care about Birthdays. I know that they are important to other people and so I meet the social expectation of doing things for people's birthdays but all things the same I would happily do away with them entirely.

I am happy to get older. I mean it. I don't get depressed or upset. But I also don't really have positive feelings about my birthday either. I've been given many wonderful birthday parties over the years and have LOVED them, but I think that I would have been just as happy had those parties been for someone else's birthday (or just a party...)

In adulthood, when you can buy anything that you reasonably want or need, I no longer need presents and it just seems greedy to want to have a party and then make it all about me.

So for the past several years I have asked (if anyone inquires) not to be given presents. Some people you can't stop but, fortunately, all of these people have the grace and smarts to get me things that are fantastically useful. Em makes me Naniamo bars. Her extended family gave me bread and Chapters gift cards (love those). My side of the family made/got me a cool nerdy board game (Le Havre), mittens, and $$$. All wonderful and very useful things:)

The best part was that there was no "stuff". I don't need more "stuff" and don't have room for it anyway. Money spent on "stuff" would just end up being wasted when it could go to much better places (see, I did get the poverty donation angle in there!)

One thing slipped through. In the mail I got a card. (I'm not talking about the one from my Grandparents. For the record I love getting mail from my Grandparents because I love them and it's nice to know that they are thinking of me)

Generally, I don't like the idea of cards. They cost $5 to begin with and usually have corny sayings inside. The only part that you would care to read is the note written by a family member/friend which could have been written on a napkin, thereby saving $5. Em cuts up old calendars with nature pics on them to make cards which I like. Reuse AND have a tough looking cougar on your card! Plus no hallmark message that you have to wade through.

So you can imagine my surprise.....
"hmmm... I don't recognize the address..."



That's right. The car dealership. THE CAR DEALERSHIP SENT ME A BIRTHDAY CARD!!!!

I almost called them right then to say "Don't contact me... EVER. I'll call you when something breaks"

I don't want it. I don't need it. They had to spend valuable seconds in the day writing a birthday card to some dude who bought a car from them. I guess this is supposed to make me want to go in there to get my servicing done when the warranty runs out...... YEESH!!!!!

Being Thankful

(Matt here)

In a book that I was just reading, "The Year of Living Biblically" (in which the author strives to follow the Bible very literally for a year), the author places a lot of emphasis on his ritual of thankfulness for things in everyday life.

The other day I went shopping when I was hungry. Not a good idea. First, everything looks good (should I get 4 different jars of pickles or just 3?). Then it looks really good (would it be too weird if I opened this jar of pickles now and just ate a few?). Resisting my urge to eat the food in the cart only made me feel hungry and cranky. At this stage, everyone with bad shopping habits stands out.

The lady who parks her cart in the middle of aisle while browsing.
My Counter: Passive aggressively stand right behind her cart and stare straight down the aisle until she gets the message.
Outcome: She doesn't get the message.

The couple who decides to have a playfight with their cart right in front of me as I'm clearly trying to find a way past.
My Counter: Stare incredulously when it seems that they can't figure out why this might be a problem.
Outcome: Lots of giggling and me tightening my grip on the cart.

However, in this scenario all you need to see is one parent with two little kids crying and grabbing on to him/her while trying to shop and everything feels better.

I decided that this would be a good time to try out some positive thinking.

I was thankful that, at this moment, I only needed to organize my grumpy self.

I was thankful that I would have as much food as I wanted, whenever I wanted.

Really, I could buy anything. I pretty much never have to worry about hunger.

I am very thankful for that.

Guilt Credits

(Emily's Voice)

There should be something called a guilt credit.

I work at an outdoor education centre and spend every day outside - rain, snow, sleet, ice pellets, or shine. There are some things that I just can't live without while working in the outdoors. For instance, a pair of boots that don't leak when being rained upon or stepping into a puddle with. Especially this time of year. These boots must be warm and also tight-fitting; otherwise my socks fall down and end up bunched at my toes - not comfortable.

I have found my dream boots! The brand is BOGS. The fit - like a glove. The style - SO COOL. And they were very expensive.

Our whole mission this year has been to only spend money when necessary and try to avoid frivolous items and in this moment I must admit that I have CHEATED! I could have just as easily gone to Canadian Tire and bought a pair of boots for half the price that would have worked, well, not quite as well but close enough. But I chose to buy an expensive pair because I am a gear head and sometimes my obsession with gear gets the better of me.

So, there should be something called a guilt credit. This would be reminiscent of the carbon credit. Every time someone adds polluting emissions to the atmosphere they can subtract them by purchasing a "carbon offset." You essentially buy these offsets from companies that support projects such as wind farms, solar installations, geothermal retrofits, etc. The idea is that the buyer can bring their emissions to neutral by offsetting them with new, renewable and non-polluting energy solutions.

The guilt credit would work the same way. Every time I purchase something that I feel guilty about buying, I could give the equivalent amount of money to a worthy organization that would offset my guilt about spending that money. Why not just NOT spend it in the first place? Well, I'm working on that. I could have a new designation - "guilt neutral."

Would it be right to be able to buy off our guilt? Should we feel guilty for living in rich North America?