A Wise Person Once Said

I don’t remember much from my college philosophy courses.  However, I do remember my professor telling our class that the sign of a truly wise person is acknowledging what one doesn’t know.  

I don’t know if I’d consider myself wise, but there are many things I don’t know, can’t figure out, and don’t understand.

As a disclaimer, let me just say that there are a myriad list of technological devices and feats that I can’t begin to fathom.  This list reflects the smaller, more everyday bits of life that have me puzzled.

1. Garbage bags.  Why do people spend money on things intended for the trash?  I mean a lot of things eventually wind up in the trash, but that’s a garbage bag’s whole purpose.  That’s it.  Now, I recognize the need for garbage bags; however, I use the plastic and paper bags that every store gladly provides its customers.  These freebie bags don’t always fit perfectly inside my trash cans, but it’s close enough.
2. Shirts/no shirts.  Who decided that it was okay for a man to walk around without a shirt but not okay for a woman?  Quite frankly, I don’t enjoy looking at people’s chests.  Male or female.  If my chest needs to be covered while I go for a walk in my neighborhood, so should my male neighbors.
3. Food delivery.  Why are pizza and Chinese food so easily delivered?  They are hot foods, after all.  There’s a whole time issue with delivery because they taste better hot.  Why aren’t submarine sandwiches delivered?  Something cool would, in my mind, be easier to deliver.  And, let’s take it a step further.  If we’re going to make special insulated carrying-cases to keep our pizzas hot upon delivery, why isn’t there a coffee delivery service?  There’s a fortune of money to be made there, for someone industrious enough to realize that tired people will pay to have coffee delivered to their homes each morning.
4. Squeeze bottles.  Whether it’s body lotion, shampoo, or ketchup it’s a relatively new occurrence to create the bottle with the opening at the bottom.  But it makes sense.  It’s a science lesson, after all.  We have gravity pulling things down.  So, inside my shower, are bottles turned upside down in my attempt to use the remaining last bit.  Why are Ketchup bottles just recently embracing this phenomenon?
5. War-Crime-Violence as entertainment.  There are television shows and video games that make me want to scream.  Call me old-fashioned, but war is not entertainment.  Hospital emergency rooms are not entertainment.  Crime scenes are not entertainment.  Yet, that’s what people are watching.  And playing.  If I want to see that, I can watch the news.
6. Over-priced children’s clothing.  Adult clothing comes in all styles and price ranges.  Similarly, so does clothing for little people.  I am a somewhat frugal clothes shopper - I rarely spend more than $20 for a shirt/sweater/blouse.  And because of my self-imposed spending limits, I don’t spend $20 on a piece of clothing for my son.  I’m not a miser, I’m simply being practical.  My toddler-aged son is continuously growing.  His clothes have a relatively short window of opportunity to be worn.  And when they’re worn, they’re likely to be decorated with sidewalk chalk, watercolors, or chocolate pudding.

The quest for wisdom and knowledge continues.