Save It

I'm not much for wasting things. I would even say that what separates me from hoarders is just the money the acquire the things in the first place. The point is that when I have something, I feel an obligation to make the most of it, even when it's not longer what it was. Food is a pretty good example. I'm not about to eat spoiled food of course, but what some would throw away without a thought I am apt to suffer through because I spent a dollar on it.

The other night I was hanging out with some friends, and we were drinking. When I was ready to leave, I was only partway through a drink. Now, it would look better if I left it behind, sending the message that I don't need that beer or that I can afford to let it go to waste. That just wouldn't be true, of course, and these friends I wouldn't worry about putting on airs. I announced my departure and took my beer along with me.

Of course, by the time I got upstairs (as I live in the same building as said friends), I needed cold, refreshing water a lot more than I needed to finish the beer while it was still cold. I set it on my computer desk by my bed, and resolved to deal with it later. Later came the following evening, by which time the beer had long ago ceased to be any kind of a pleasure to imbibe. Still, I had made some kind of a commitment.

I'm drinking the half of the bottle that was left now, and it's a chore near as onerous as washing the dishes, though it's closer to the most memorable sip of a coffee (meaning, of course, the final one that contains grinds). As we adjust to a world of limitations and finite resources, let it never be said that I failed to do my part in conserving what little we had left. The way things stand these days, I'm what passes for an environmentalist.