I wish I had written yesterday – when the event was still fresh in my mind but I had yet to relate the experience to anyone and I was still delusional from sleep deprivation. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I participated because we had run out of funds for the month (although, this is true) or because I had some moral convictions that were satisfied by it (although, this is true, too). The heaviest weighing factor was simply curiosity. I had seen the fruits (literally) of the previous week’s scavenging and I wanted to understand just how much edible waste was actually found in these excursions.
The night began with only two of us who left at midnight for the nearest Trader Joe’s. Initially, I was disappointed by what I saw. The dumpster smelled foul and it looked like most things had yogurt or orange juice dumped on them. It was only about a quarter of the way full which lead me to my 2-minute assessment that there was nothing to be salvaged. My more experienced partner had an eye for this thing, however, and over 15 minutes of poking around, she managed to spot us several dozen unopened bags of bagels, a pair of zucchinis, 4 perfect Fuji apples (and 2 bruised ones), 2 cartons of blueberries and a basket of fresh basil. I was particularly surprised about the apples as they were the only unpackaged treasure we pulled. My friend explained that if the skin wasn’t broken we could wash them with water and a little bit of bleach and they would be sanitized enough to eat safely.
As I was climbing out, we were joined by several other dumpster divers who we spent the rest of the night with. Since it was my first time, they climbed in and double-checked for goods I may have missed. They found a bag of lemons with only one moldy piece of fruit, two unbroken eggs, and a sad looking sweet basil potted herb that they determined could be brought back to life.
We stopped at a few other stores along the way to the site most frequented by my Freegan friends. The ones with management and night crews still out and about we avoided. I have yet to confirm this, but I learned that dumpster diving is not illegal as long as it not on private property (which, apparently, means it is an enclosed dumpster). All the same, we did not want to call attention to ourselves or create an awkward confrontation over this grey-area activity.
We were not the first to get to the prized dumpster, a couple had loaded up nearly two trunks of food before we got there. I got a glimpse before they awkwardly left us to get the last pickings – they had several bags of breaded goods with expiration dates for that day, boxes of produce looking a bit less than pretty but still totally edible, and good deal of shelf-/dry-goods. Apparently, the night of the week we went followed regular shipments at this particular store, so the dumpsters area always full of product that was replaced during that day.
At this site, I, alone, brought home over $70 in grocery foods. This was what was left after we removed all moldy, dairy, warm, or questionable products from our findings. Anything that had not been pierced and could be washed in bleach was fair game. Understanding that I came only from a two-person home, this was a meager portion compared to the amount the other two intentional communities with me took. One of the girls with us even commented that it was far less than normal and they would have to come back the next night; but I was pleased.
The people who beat us to our bounty were a true Freegan couple (eating only free, organic, non-meat products) and so what was left for us to pick from in the dumpster was a large variety of packaged meats. I was extremely skeptical of taking any, particularly the poultry, but the community members assured me that they had never experienced any ill effects from eating the packaged meats they pulled. To accommodate my skepticism, they gave me the meats that were still frozen in their sealed packaging. I hit the jack-pot when I stumbled upon a garbage bag of eggs still in their cartons. I pulled out about ten dozen eggs in perfect condition! This was what the two houses were hoping for as eggs are a main staple, easily prepared, possessing a long un-refrigerated shelf life, and numerous.
At the end of the night, we took out all the goods from our cars (even the ones that had been scavenged by smaller groups in locations I had not been to) and laid everything out. Item by item we asked out loud who wanted what. The divvying was facilitated by questions of amount and preference and gifting all at once; and there was an air of joy and effortlessness to process. In the kind of conversation where it is reasonable to expect conflict, there was openhandedness and an absence of entitlement. Things were not allotted based on what was fair, or even on who needed what, but exchanged in generosity. I am not exactly sure how such an “exchange” of any kind happened because, without sounding communistic, the food belonged to all of us at once. I suppose a contributing factor was that the dumpster would be there the next night and the next and the next…
When I got home, I was nervous that the food I received would go bad or make us sick and so I prayed. The words I heard myself saying were not at all unique, but they had more implication than ever before – I asked that the food I received would nourish us (despite being pulled from a dumpster), that God would protect us (from dumpster bugs), that God would continue to provide for us… The attitude that my friends from the communities had during the distribution suddenly made sense to me. It wasn’t that the food belonged to all of us, it was that the food belonged to none of us.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Technology doesn't help old people
I'm back! And life has a pace again - oh, Lord - life has a rhythm. I'm so happy. So happy to be working and so happy to have a home again. So happy to be living out of a dresser and not a suitcase and happy to be repaying debts and gifts of kindness; half of which required no reciprocation.
I missed you, Internet world! I can't say how many of my truly lovely friends find my sentiments baffling and this favored medium of interaction, somehow, artificial and insincere. But in having to take a hiatus from my laptop created space for some new observations to take place that have inspired me and caused me to be more enamored with our technology and more in love with people.
More on that later.
I am taking my last class this summer. I will finally have my overdue BA in Sociology by mid-July. You are all invited to the party - it will be a grand affair consisting mostly of a large scale scavenger hunt and a lot of food. (I am planning on investing more time in setting it up than in my class... unwise?)
Below is my first short essay. It's awful. AWFUL. But I think it makes some interesting points worth commenting on. The course is Intro to Gerontology and the topic was an exploration of whether or not technology is a help or hindrance to the elderly. What do you think?
Technology, by definition, is the ultimate byproduct of human creativity and pragmatism; it is the development of tools that aid humans in their pursuit of enlightenment, comfort, or vitality. Technology is the human response to the preservation of both individual and collective lives and lifestyles. In a consumerist culture, the most valuable life is that of the consumer. When faced with the question of importance and application of technology for a specific sub-group of a given culture, we must consider both how able the group is to consume and how applicable to their lifestyle, and therefore how interested they may be, to the product in question. Because technology is funded and perpetuated by the demand of the consumer, particularly in America, it follows that technological development caters to the most normal and high consuming demographic. The elderly (65+ y.o.) only make up just over 12% (but growing) of the US consumer market while the bulk of the working and consuming age group (20-55 y.o.) make up well over half of the population. It is logical to assume that most technology is developed for this sub-group of the population and their specific demands and needs.
For the growing elderly population, technology is only as useful as it is consistent in its application. The cell phone may be slightly helpful to the elderly lifestyle because it is simply a more advanced version of a technology that previously existed, the telephone; but computers, particularly new forms of social interaction available via technologies, are more difficult to implement and are not designed for use by the elderly. A glance at the ads and layout of social mediums like facebook & myspace will reveal a format hardly conducive to the inevitable site and audio difficulties developed later in life. Likewise, the growing necessity of usage of such social networks further isolates the elderly from a generation with a unique form of relationship. This is not to say that the elderly cannot adapt and communicate in these fashions, but the rate at which technology evolves and changes is not expected in the aging generations as it is by the modern children of technology.
The lack of demand for assistive technology for the elderly is the result of several factors working against the potential development of technological aid. The 65+ group cannot create a demand for itself as it does not carry enough influence as a minority population. There are simply not enough people in the sub-group to unify under this specific consumer demand. The elderly also represent a significant portion of the population that is not working and, therefore, cannot independently pursue or afford a perpetually more convenient or comfortable lifestyle. Due to the sharp decline in veneration of our elderly, advocacy for the minority by more highly represented consumers does not exist either. Because of poor representation for needs of the elderly in the technological market, most developments, it would seem, are unsustainable, expensive, or difficult to attain and implement. Such assistive tools that do not have the proper support can be dangerous or a hindrance to an elderly lifestyle.
Technology that does exist in an assistive or enriching form for the elderly is simply residual consequence of products developed for the aforementioned, larger subgroup. For example, the development of the medical alarm necklace, or panic alarm, commonly used to send an emergency signal in the case of an accident or out of reach phone was originally designed for government facilities and guards as a security device. There are several examples that include creative uses of mobile devices, hearing and sight amplifiers, medical tools, and even food, etc, that originally had little to do with assisting the elderly. But such creations that were not intended for operation by the elderly may contribute to sedentary, unhealthy lifestyles or dependencies that suit the primary consumers’ demands more than they benefit their users. In the case of the panic alarm, such technology replaces what was originally human responsibility – the application of this particular device encourages a lifestyle of independence more closely affiliated with the primary demographic than what may be most conducive or beneficial to its elderly user.
Before technology can be truly helpful to our aging population, the majority must recognize the elderly as valuable social group worth preserving and assisting with our technological endeavors as our own needs and comforts are.
I missed you, Internet world! I can't say how many of my truly lovely friends find my sentiments baffling and this favored medium of interaction, somehow, artificial and insincere. But in having to take a hiatus from my laptop created space for some new observations to take place that have inspired me and caused me to be more enamored with our technology and more in love with people.
More on that later.
I am taking my last class this summer. I will finally have my overdue BA in Sociology by mid-July. You are all invited to the party - it will be a grand affair consisting mostly of a large scale scavenger hunt and a lot of food. (I am planning on investing more time in setting it up than in my class... unwise?)
Below is my first short essay. It's awful. AWFUL. But I think it makes some interesting points worth commenting on. The course is Intro to Gerontology and the topic was an exploration of whether or not technology is a help or hindrance to the elderly. What do you think?
Technology, by definition, is the ultimate byproduct of human creativity and pragmatism; it is the development of tools that aid humans in their pursuit of enlightenment, comfort, or vitality. Technology is the human response to the preservation of both individual and collective lives and lifestyles. In a consumerist culture, the most valuable life is that of the consumer. When faced with the question of importance and application of technology for a specific sub-group of a given culture, we must consider both how able the group is to consume and how applicable to their lifestyle, and therefore how interested they may be, to the product in question. Because technology is funded and perpetuated by the demand of the consumer, particularly in America, it follows that technological development caters to the most normal and high consuming demographic. The elderly (65+ y.o.) only make up just over 12% (but growing) of the US consumer market while the bulk of the working and consuming age group (20-55 y.o.) make up well over half of the population. It is logical to assume that most technology is developed for this sub-group of the population and their specific demands and needs.
For the growing elderly population, technology is only as useful as it is consistent in its application. The cell phone may be slightly helpful to the elderly lifestyle because it is simply a more advanced version of a technology that previously existed, the telephone; but computers, particularly new forms of social interaction available via technologies, are more difficult to implement and are not designed for use by the elderly. A glance at the ads and layout of social mediums like facebook & myspace will reveal a format hardly conducive to the inevitable site and audio difficulties developed later in life. Likewise, the growing necessity of usage of such social networks further isolates the elderly from a generation with a unique form of relationship. This is not to say that the elderly cannot adapt and communicate in these fashions, but the rate at which technology evolves and changes is not expected in the aging generations as it is by the modern children of technology.
The lack of demand for assistive technology for the elderly is the result of several factors working against the potential development of technological aid. The 65+ group cannot create a demand for itself as it does not carry enough influence as a minority population. There are simply not enough people in the sub-group to unify under this specific consumer demand. The elderly also represent a significant portion of the population that is not working and, therefore, cannot independently pursue or afford a perpetually more convenient or comfortable lifestyle. Due to the sharp decline in veneration of our elderly, advocacy for the minority by more highly represented consumers does not exist either. Because of poor representation for needs of the elderly in the technological market, most developments, it would seem, are unsustainable, expensive, or difficult to attain and implement. Such assistive tools that do not have the proper support can be dangerous or a hindrance to an elderly lifestyle.
Technology that does exist in an assistive or enriching form for the elderly is simply residual consequence of products developed for the aforementioned, larger subgroup. For example, the development of the medical alarm necklace, or panic alarm, commonly used to send an emergency signal in the case of an accident or out of reach phone was originally designed for government facilities and guards as a security device. There are several examples that include creative uses of mobile devices, hearing and sight amplifiers, medical tools, and even food, etc, that originally had little to do with assisting the elderly. But such creations that were not intended for operation by the elderly may contribute to sedentary, unhealthy lifestyles or dependencies that suit the primary consumers’ demands more than they benefit their users. In the case of the panic alarm, such technology replaces what was originally human responsibility – the application of this particular device encourages a lifestyle of independence more closely affiliated with the primary demographic than what may be most conducive or beneficial to its elderly user.
Before technology can be truly helpful to our aging population, the majority must recognize the elderly as valuable social group worth preserving and assisting with our technological endeavors as our own needs and comforts are.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Lost in Translation
If you read Traditional Chinese... maybe you could help me out with a comment I received. This is what Yahoo Translator gave me:
You need the indoor design? Please look for extremely the shed! He has gang this fragrant 舖 to make the decoration, who did the fragrant 舖 website design ask to do links SEO also to do said! Your indoor design met a pile too to be also tired my mother Ye! Recently in the friend family do some people married do not know need the wedding ceremony video recording? ISEE this probably good Ye! The Aurora style's Yilan people sleep in there cross the honeymoon to be very idle, the Beijing View Advertisement Design Company designs the wedding ceremony gift box's thing is really very good! Wedding ceremony scene also some people take add the throttle to refuel for the new person, conference site scene flare very US, happy pair's medal is also satisfactory, Lian Liche the headlight is the LED white light moves the peach garden from Nankang, the new home needs the indoor design? Asks this family not to have good which the wrong this family indoor design does! The indoor design's ten methods they have, the indoor design's truth they also know, the wife secretly will not go to the motel with other man, the house also needs two embryos? Your family needs to illuminate? LED will be the future mainstream commodity you knows! The LED province electricity the environmental protection, really wants to buy one to try, my company serves the project has a health foods generation of labor, the vegetarian diet capsule You need to lose weight? Quick movement! The indoor design also contains the space design! Rents a room the net publication free not to spend money in the clear boundary farm sheep to be very lovable! Which is the Middle Ages vehicle performance actually the good indoor design must look for to be quite good! a383 website in? which a383 do you know the website in? The second-hand furniture is also cheap also the easy to use Wenshan Moving company's service telephone good Moving company to introduce that which you fitness to the bodily very good tasty tea buy! What can A piece of many younger sisters look at SEO the place unamusing = = SEO place? How does SEO arrange quite on quickly! Does not tell you the fine Moving company please to look for the yellow page to look how the Moving company does choose quite good Taibei Moving company which good? The Taibei Moving company moves the flow Taibei Moving company, the Taibei Moving company visitors is Ye! This family's appeal thing design is diverse! The appeal thing packing is occult you to need the appeal thing to be auxiliary? The appeal thing uses well! The appeal thing, the appeal thing, the appeal thing, the appeal thing, the appeal thing, the appeal thing, the appeal thing, the appeal thing, the Taichung Moving company, A piece, the Taibei Moving company, the Taibei County Banqiao Moving company, the appeal thing, the appeal thing, the appeal thing, the appeal thing, the appeal thing, the appeal thing, the appeal thing, the appeal thing, the appeal thing, the appeal thing, expends the ticket, the appeal, the appeal, the appeal, the appeal appeal, the appeal, the appeal, the appeal, the appeal, appeal world many people are = = Jan Zhuanfan the tool to be very easy to use! Drafts the letter society service to be fine, 絕 does not make do! Every month the freight transportation company removes goods has the fixed price pickled vegetable delicious Ye uniform invoice to check lottery results the indoor design company light bright this family who 26 must check lottery results to be good! The heat-insulating cardboard has used hotly! The indoor design company usually designs the family is very beautiful! which does the led flashlight illuminate the ultra luminous second-hand stack board to buy? a383 has a look! Moves serves the area to be as follows: The Da'an area moves, Sungshan moves, the mountainous area moves, eight miles move, five move, Taishan moves, Datong District moves, the area moves, the indanthrene moves, Wan Hua moves, rains when supports the umbrella, here has a fine umbrella to let you, the uniform cannot drip wet! The uniform clean is the good baby! SEO This second-hand vehicle's performance is very good
Thursday, March 26, 2009
In the Mean Time
Sorry - I'm trying to set a good pace with the voting & writing, etc - but things have been a little hectic around the Northend-Sheean household with work and not work and interviews and cars breaking down, etc.
Matt's dad flew in from Kenya Tuesday night and came to work on our car WEDNESDAY afternoon! And we've had a number of friends offer the use of their cars in the mean time. What beautiful community we have.
In YOUR mean time (while I write a post on the winning topic) I thought you might enjoy some of my favorite people on the Internet:
MattSheean.com - If you haven't been here yet, you're not my friend.
This is my husband's beta website. You can also see his more recent work on his blog. He just got signed to book that will be at ComicCon, too! But even I can break his NDA so all I know is that there are some pretty good illustrations in it. =D
Micah's Blog - My brother in-law luv's website!
This is another fantastic artist whom I recommend checking out from time to time. Without being a totally biased sister, Micah's pretty fantastic. I'm particularly fond of his accuracy with the guns he's draws... ;-)
MalachiWard.com - Matt's other brain.
By far the most attended and anticipated art shows at our university were ones involving Malachi, go check out his work and you'll understand what I mean. I hope he doesn't mind me tooting his horn, but I'm a big fan. Malachi participates in Illustration Friday, too, so you can count on a weekly blog posting.
That all for "In the Mean Time." By popular vote, "Why THIS Universe Doesn't Have Masked Vigilantes" will be up over the weekend!
Matt's dad flew in from Kenya Tuesday night and came to work on our car WEDNESDAY afternoon! And we've had a number of friends offer the use of their cars in the mean time. What beautiful community we have.
In YOUR mean time (while I write a post on the winning topic) I thought you might enjoy some of my favorite people on the Internet:
MattSheean.com - If you haven't been here yet, you're not my friend.
This is my husband's beta website. You can also see his more recent work on his blog. He just got signed to book that will be at ComicCon, too! But even I can break his NDA so all I know is that there are some pretty good illustrations in it. =D
Micah's Blog - My brother in-
This is another fantastic artist whom I recommend checking out from time to time. Without being a totally biased sister, Micah's pretty fantastic. I'm particularly fond of his accuracy with the guns he's draws... ;-)
MalachiWard.com - Matt's other brain.
By far the most attended and anticipated art shows at our university were ones involving Malachi, go check out his work and you'll understand what I mean. I hope he doesn't mind me tooting his horn, but I'm a big fan. Malachi participates in Illustration Friday, too, so you can count on a weekly blog posting.
That all for "In the Mean Time." By popular vote, "Why THIS Universe Doesn't Have Masked Vigilantes" will be up over the weekend!
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Stupid Things We Heard People Say at the Huntington Library
Last week's poll results are in:
And I must honor the voters! Unless I'm the California Supreme Court. Oops! Did I say that? Whatever. Politics. Onto silly people saying stupid things!
Last week I started my new job. As it turns out, I have the first Thursday of the month off! As it also turns out, the Huntington Library is free (thank you Wells Fargo) every first Thursday of the month! We found this out by accident when searching out an opportunity to speak to a supervising security guard about a job opportunity.... and this is where the adventure began.
As we approached the Huntington, we noticed an unusually large crowd before the gates. Above them was a sign that indicated it was "Free Thursday!" This didn't make finding the head security guard easy. After the doors opened and the crowd thinned, we found him and Matt approached, having a conversation that went something like this:
Eventually we made it to the made our way to the bonsai garden (which was absolutely amazing!). To get there, you enter a bamboo forest and find yourself among traditional Japanese architecture and landscape. After the bonsai exhibit you immediately find yourself in a zen garden. You can sit and admire the sculpted trees and manipulated rock patterns. We couldn't avoid the man in boat shoes, obviously wearing short for the first time this season, explaining to his wife, who stood very close to the description placard that this was "some kind of meditation garden."
After relaying this story in writing, I realize that it was far funnier to Matt and I who spent the next 20 minutes chuckling about the tendency that type of museum goer has to share their "outside" knowledge before reading the description placard.
The final leg of the trip landed us outside the arboretum. I was simultaneously admiring the magnolia trees while searching for the nearest exit to relieve my aching feet when I noticed a gate seeming to lead to the parking lot, "come on!" I told Matt and traipsed in its direction. Matt lagged behind a bit looking at me quizzically, I reached the gate and said "what is it? let's go, my feet hurt!" He strode without rushing toward me, shyly eye-ing people passing who I had not noticed were looking at me, and said, "I think we should go this way..." I took me a second or two to notice the sign next to me that said "exit"; it pointed the way the stream of people was moving and was obviously placed next to the gate I'd forced open to avert confusion...
So much for my high horse. =)
And I must honor the voters! Unless I'm the California Supreme Court. Oops! Did I say that? Whatever. Politics. Onto silly people saying stupid things!Last week I started my new job. As it turns out, I have the first Thursday of the month off! As it also turns out, the Huntington Library is free (thank you Wells Fargo) every first Thursday of the month! We found this out by accident when searching out an opportunity to speak to a supervising security guard about a job opportunity.... and this is where the adventure began.
As we approached the Huntington, we noticed an unusually large crowd before the gates. Above them was a sign that indicated it was "Free Thursday!" This didn't make finding the head security guard easy. After the doors opened and the crowd thinned, we found him and Matt approached, having a conversation that went something like this:
Matt: Good morning, sir. So-and-so told me that you would be the person to talk to about the application I submitted a month ago.Matt gave him his name and number and they parted ways. We decided to take advantage of the Free Thursday (a very nice attendant had some extra tickets - apparently even though it's free you have to pre-order tickets) and we meandered in to the cactus garden. We found a secluded little corner next to a giant agave plant to have a quick kiss but were interrupted by an approaching group of 20-something women. We sort of scuttled passed them while they admired the plant and heard one say,
Sir: Yea, that'd be me. We haven't been hiring due to a freeze, but it was just lifted and we have one slot open.
Matt: Oh, well I'd like that slot!
Big Dog: You workin'?
Matt: No, not right now.
Kahuna: Of course you want that slot. I'm workin', you're not.
Matt: ...
Main Man: You got people skills? Because this job's just about people skills. No kung fu, no mace, no nothing. Just common sense.
"Oh how cool! This plant a total throw back to the Jurassic period or something."Now, just to be sure, I stifled my laughter until I checked Urbandictionary.com; I'm pretty sure the young lady was using the 4th definition provided:
We giggled about other plants in the cactus garden "sporting their spring time flowers" and "totally rockin' that prehistoric vibe."
4) throw back
damn that mc hammer video is throw back
Eventually we made it to the made our way to the bonsai garden (which was absolutely amazing!). To get there, you enter a bamboo forest and find yourself among traditional Japanese architecture and landscape. After the bonsai exhibit you immediately find yourself in a zen garden. You can sit and admire the sculpted trees and manipulated rock patterns. We couldn't avoid the man in boat shoes, obviously wearing short for the first time this season, explaining to his wife, who stood very close to the description placard that this was "some kind of meditation garden."
After relaying this story in writing, I realize that it was far funnier to Matt and I who spent the next 20 minutes chuckling about the tendency that type of museum goer has to share their "outside" knowledge before reading the description placard.
The final leg of the trip landed us outside the arboretum. I was simultaneously admiring the magnolia trees while searching for the nearest exit to relieve my aching feet when I noticed a gate seeming to lead to the parking lot, "come on!" I told Matt and traipsed in its direction. Matt lagged behind a bit looking at me quizzically, I reached the gate and said "what is it? let's go, my feet hurt!" He strode without rushing toward me, shyly eye-ing people passing who I had not noticed were looking at me, and said, "I think we should go this way..." I took me a second or two to notice the sign next to me that said "exit"; it pointed the way the stream of people was moving and was obviously placed next to the gate I'd forced open to avert confusion...
So much for my high horse. =)
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