Blogger Template by Blogcrowds

.

Post Script to the Thanksgiving Turkey Post

Posted by Caia333 at 3:47 AM


AKA MY TWO CENTS ON TEXT TRACKING TURKEY

Thankfully Trippin Out On Tryptophan is an Accepted Explanation, and Ego Trippin is an Underated Excuse।


Warning:

Reader Should Use Caution If Reading this (to be flagged & removed) POST due to Controversial Content . If the content of this post makes you feel uncomfortable about yourself or causes you to confront social themes you prefer to deal with only subconsciously, MAKE SURE TO FLAG IMMEDIATELY LIKE THE OTHER POSTS LEADING UP TO THIS TEXT! If you delight as I do in the posts most rapidly flagged & deleted, you can continue to access & view the full text of this and predessor posts on one of my blogsites: http://gr8ful.blogspot.com


This Thanksgiving I will include in the list of blessings I am thankful for the Craigslist Philly Free Stuff Community. I am grateful for the items I have been able to receive through this resource and even more grateful for the opportunity to share my excess and extras with people I meet when they drive from Philly or Jersey to my house for the swap, but who I know before I meet, because everyone here has so much in common with me।


Over generally speaking, the majority of those who post here are generous, polite, caring and conscientious Philly natives (with a few imports like myself.) Organized one must be to manage the influx of response to popular listings and fairly distribute the goods to interested parties in the accepted status quo order in which they responded. Diligent one must be to both arrange meeting times and follow through with the meeting schedule as planned. Brave, it seems are some who must overcome fears of interacting over the web and letting down carefully held armor and exposing our personal information, phone numbers, email addresses and home addresses to make the arranged exchange।


Curbside alerts are a potluck grab bag equalizer on the playing field here, allowing the most local to circumvent the most consistently online purveyors of the "GOODS." They allow casual generosity and even provide an opportunity to give away the belongings of our neighbors or strangers eyed in passing-by with a quick listing (in case your junk is too valuable to part with) or if you've achieved perfection in a clutter and waste free state I can only aim for in the distance. Official listings scheduled days ahead of time are just as common for list loving planning sharers of the free stuff।


The treasures I have seen offered . .i.e. running cars, working laptops, pool tables, jacuzziis, event tickets, leather couches, appliances, plumbing fixtures, scrap metal, tools, landscaping equipment, not to mention yard sale leftovers, hand me downs, household overflow, house plants and even the living landscape have been listed - the fuel offered - including gasoline, heating oil, and cut and carry firewood - not to mention the if you can haul it you can have it specials for those with a truck, six friends, and six pianos। . .


Of course, food, formula, diapers, and coupons are a common currency among this ultra edgy diy, non beat around the bush, and don’t waste time beating a dead bush, instead implementing a green forum that embraces action instead of conceptually debating climate change. Reducing waste & poverty by increasing our own generosity happens because everyone posting and responding on these pages has challenged ideology from our recent past that passed judgment on trash picking. The same social force use to work on individuals too proud to accept charity or ask for what they need, or admit that they had any unmet needs, that they were not self sufficient। .


So this thanksgiving, I am very grateful to be apart of this community unafraid to admit our interconnectedness and interdependency. I am proud that we are a polite bunch with a code of ettiquette governing our generosity. I am also very grateful that along with free frozen turkeys, & anonymous free exchange there is the balance created by catered dinner donations attached to their curious donors with strings of requests strategically created to allow them to explore their neighbors condition. I am pronouncedly grateful that the "free stuff" on craigslist makes sure to include free speech।


I am grateful that freedom of speech is used to critically review content when necessary of the listings posted, and the community awareness and debate about donors tones. Sensitivity to subtle insinuations, and any other content of listings that attempts to judge recipients is appropriate. Those seeking to obtain financial profit or even calculating their loss because their not - or apparently worse - those attempting to "give to the less fortunate" as a transparent mechanism to increase their self worth or self esteem or personally profit in any way from transactions here is quickly identified. I'm grateful in the modern world where our reality is almost entirely based in our economy and our relation to the global market, there is a place where almost any form of selfishness is as unfashionable as fur at a PETA event।


I'm grateful that I fit in with this uncensored crowd. I'm grateful for a place where an attempted transaction resembling capitalistic trade is cast in the same light as a faux fur is viewed by runway spectators during fashion week in Manhattan।


I know that in the modern mainstream perception of our evolving information age, Craigslist has come into it's own and shares the platform of media recognition as a phenomena equally significant and unique to google and wilkepedia, and more relevant to modern technoculture than Microsoft. I know that it is the online (free) instant user published classified employment and trade listings that have replaced traditional print media formats exchanging these types of information that has forced traditional print vendors to completely restructure their business in order to survive and continue in any form due to their decreased usefulness & marketability।


But I appreciate what I percieve to be an even edgier edge to Craiglist's interpretable significance in modern society. I maintain that one of the coolest resources available today (in a way that never before existed on any level beyond coupon swaps at the library and used book drop boxes at your bank branch lobby) are Craiglist "free stuff" listings because of the community that posts and retrieves them and the beauty in that exchange. Most pages of salvaged brick, collected paint inventories, and leftover drywall and carefully removed terracotta rooftiles are filled with the materials I use to remodel my view of our society। Posts or flagged and deleted post scripts provide their readers with updated literary landscape, and view of a new world order.


And in closing, my opinions can be validated if referenced against an online source whose purpose is FEEDING BUZZ: http://www.buzzfeed.com features an article entitled Hippie Capitalism:

"Business Buzz Entrepreneurs using capitalism to do good and help others. Here are some cases where capitalism isn’t totally evil and destroying innocent lives while creating vast wealth discrepancies। Except for maybe the Wal-Mart example which was only included because Communist Wal-Mart is a totally awesome concept. "


Source <http://buzzfeed.com/buzz/Hippie_Capitalism>


The article features 14 links which I find relevant to the ideas I've expressed here, so I've taken the liberty to attach them below. NOTICE: CRAIGSLIST RANKS SECOND FOR THE ATTRIBUTES I PREVIOUSLY IDENTIFIED AS BEING THEIR MOST CHARACTERISTIC, AND MOST IMPORTANT OR RELEVANT IN DISCUSSION. Check out their featured company and their links. Craigslist, like the users in the "free stuff" community finds itself once again in good company।


For these reasons I suggest there are many more positive things to state about other posters listings and their authors than faults. As we enter the holiday season we have a choice to be charitable as we have a choice on what we focused and comment on. We also have a choice to flag listings and become offended or to be tolerant and leave that up to those getting paid for that.

Here's those links:

BuzzFeed’s Links

 

Labels: , , ,

1 comments:

I am grateful that we are not all alike -- that we don't think alike, that we handle situations differently, celebrate differently and create different traditions. What I see as important is that people are out there helping others, finding ways to serve those in their community. Those in need of help (each one of us at one time or another in our lives) have needs as different as those offering help. That is part of the plan. Let us exhibit love and tolerance and look for ways we can serve our fellowman. Judging and criticizing others and how they choose to help others creates contention, and I think we all want less of that in our lives. Let us commend others for anything they do to help others. I have faith that anyone offering any kind of help will easily match up with others who need whatever kind of help is being offered.

Let's open our hearts to others with needs, each in his/her own way throughout the year -- not just during the holidays -- and the world will be the better for it. Hearts would be healed, burdens lifted, spirits lightened, love and peace would be in greater abundance, understanding and tolerance would increase, laughter and happy hearts would multiply. I read a quote recently that I'd like to share. Sorry -- but I cannot remember who said it. "If everyone would sweep in front of their own front door, the whole world would be clean."

And just important as helping others, we must be open to having others help us in our own personal time of need. Most everyone gets their turn -- it is part of this mortal experience. If no one allows others to help them, then no one can serve. Let's open our hearts to serving and allow ourselves to be humble enough to be served in turn, and no matter our situation, maintain a grateful heart, for we all have many blessings regardless of our current challenges.

Have a Happy Heart this Thanksgiving!!

Wachiwi said...

November 22, 2008 at 10:59 AM  

Post a Comment

Older Post Home

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)