April28-Reaching Out to the Regular Guy and Gal
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Activists, we get a Frick’n Goofy award too.
We are always trying to get individuals to change. We don’t “Get” what motivates the majority of us, what’s off-putting to us. We don’t know what Coke & beer & SUV sellers know. And some of us are too elitist to want to know.
This has gotta be a factor in why the Environmental & Socially Responsible Business stuff has not yet become Main Street stuff. It’s Frigg’n Goofy to always be asking regular folks to change. Especially when you don’t understand them.
Danny’s a middle manager. Or maybe he’s a cop. Or a clerk. He comes home from work dead tired. His job is shaky. The boss is a jerk. And you want him to only take a 5 minute shower?
My oldest one is having problems at school. The other one is in a gazillion activities, and always needs a ride. My spouse is complaining about something. The house needs stuff done.
And you want me to start a compost pile, and stop using pesticides on my lawn? Oh ya, and also throw out my gas mower and use a push one. Right.
For somebody else, it’s getting time to put one of their parents in a Home. They fret and worry, how are we gonna pay the bills? College? Christ all mighty, we can’t afford that.
Somebody’s got an Uncle Joey who’s an alchoholic and is getting a divorce, and you just know he ain’t gonna pay back the money he borrowed.
At the grocery store in the middle of the day, I’m paying with a credit card, cause I gotta conserve my cash. I asked the clerk how she was doing? “Tired,” she sighed. “At least you have a job.” “I’ve got 2 jobs.” I didn’t have the heart to tell her I was out of a job.
The list goes on and on.
You overwhelm me Doom ’n Gloom, details and facts. And pick nits if I slip on a politically incorrect banana peel. My daughter has just come back from Iraq. And I don’t know who she is, or what she’s been thru. But she’s in a world of hurt, and nobody seems to care. So just ‘sit on it’, as Fonzzie used to say, in Happy Days.
You (Sadhu) say… “If everyone just turned off the faucet while they brushed their teeth, it would save a x millions of water a year.” Oh, but you don’t say a Bleep’n word about health clubs, to get them to stop guzzling water. You’re a great guy, but come’on.
I step outside to have a smoke. Just a little habit to help me get thru the day. You harrumph your nose at me, and cough as you walk by. Ya, as you breath in the toxic fumes of the car and busses going by. But I don’t see you raging against the automobile companies; the one’s who haven’t changed their engines much in 70 God-bleep years.
Sneaking a little taste of Mother Nature is illegal. In the meantime, pharmaceutical companies bombard us with advertisements for some drugs for some problem I don’t even have. And get filthy rich doing it. They like us using drugs, but only the one’s they have a piece of the action $$ on.
Another couple, they’ve got a daughter with terminal cancer. And you give them grief about eating meat. Get a clue, dude.
One third of all girls will be sexually or physically abused by the time they are 16. For boys, it’s one out of four. As Henry used to say, “There’s no gravity, the Earth sucks.“ Henry had been diagnosed with schizophrenia since he was a child. Henry wasn’t crazy, just abused.
So, for those of us who care about Good Stuff, and want to make a difference, let’s Walk with Compassion, eh? Some Understanding wouldn’t hurt either.
After all, there’s no law that sez we gotta keep our Friggn’ Goofy award forever.
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Bianca Alexander said
Hi Bob!
I love this blog and your site. I agree it’s time for the “Green/Sustainable Movement” to get real and speak to the masses who are just trying to survive living their normal lives. I say it starts here in Chicago!
I got into this industry as a regular person trying to find answers for my own health issues…and am still on the journey.
Keep up the great work and feel free to post some any of our videos or blogs for more easy tips on everyday sustainable living. Onward and upward!
Peace,
Bianca
http://www.ConsciousLivingTV.com
http://www.SoulofGreen.com
KrisBelucci said
Great post! Just wanted to let you know you have a new subscriber- me!