My Less than Appealing Side

Some people might call me one of those people. You know, one of those greenies who thinks she's better than everyone else b/c she takes public transportation, doesn't own a car, recycles every piece of trash possible, etc. etc. But I have discovered that there are corners I'm willing to cut and not feel too badly about.

First, when the boy drives me to work. Sure, there's a bus that goes from across the street from his house to downtown, where I can take another bus or train (or two) to my office. But I do not hesitate to let him drive me to work. First of all, it cuts like an hour off my trip. Second of all, he's not a morning person. But these are just excuses.

The second area of my life where I do not think twice about the size of my carbon footprint is air conditioning. When it is 96 degrees, as it was today, I do not hesitate to run my air conditioner all night. It's awful. I'm an awful person. I will stop looking down on others for not recycling.

Another area of my sinfulness is my materialism. In the last several years, I have developed a very strong sense of materialism. Sure, it's always been there through my youth and even in my least material days (college? New Zealand?). But lately, especially as I've been earning (relatively) serious amounts of disposable income, it's gotten worse. Part of this materialism has been an appreciation for fine jewelry. I never really cared. I never really wanted. But now, I care and I want. A few years ago, my mom gave me this pearl earring / necklace / ring set. It was tacky as hell, except the necklace. But somehow, in the last year or so, the earrings have become more tasteful-looking to me. Unfortunately, somehow, I've lost one of the earrings. I don't know how. And it's eating me up. I need to remember, though, that it's just an earring. It won't last. And I view it more as a lesson of how not to be materialistic and to put value and worth in material objects. They all disappear one way or another. But while I can somehow take comfort in the lesson here, there is one thing I know - I will never tell my mom that I lost the earring.