Nothing New

Brought to you by The Letter “R”… as in Reuse.

It’s really hard to not shop.

This is mostly because, I am discovering, our American life is not truly designed for things like:

• Freedom
• Justice
• Democracy
• Share and share alike

but is actually designed for things like:

• Credit card debt
• Paris Hilton
• Bud Light Ads

I think this is primarily why we all sort of get the RECYCLE bit, but just plain ignore the other two Rs, reduce and reuse.

My personal favorite R is Reuse. I like it because, well, first of all, it’s sort of communist. In order to RE-use things, that means you have to USE them first, or someone does. Which means, you can’t have it for yourself, of it you do, you have to share it with someone else. HA! What’s mine is yours!

When I lived in Kansas City, I had a lawn mower and it got stolen out of my garage. Now my lawn was the size of a postage stamp: still I REALLY needed to keep it mowed, because I am an American, and that’s what Americans do. They mow their lawns.

Well, my neighbor Cathy (another bleeding heart liberal, god bless it!) suggested that I borrow hers. So I did. And I borrowed it again. And again. And again. I put gasoline in it. Sometimes I mowed her lawn. Sometimes she mowed mine. Hmmm…. What the HELL IS GOING ON HERE!! ANARCHY! THE ECONOMY IS CRUMBLING!!!

Well, needless to say, that was a good example of reuse. Instead of my buying a new, additional and much unneeded lawn mower, we shared one. And the economy didn’t crumble.

Well, at least I don’t think this sub-prime housing debacle is linked to back to that… or is it?