rammi.glomp.me

// November 8th, 2009 // NaBloPoMo

I hate waste. Wasted food, wasted resources, wasted time; all these things lead to a very annoyed Rammi.

Even if I’m full up, and feel as if I can’t eat any more, whenever someone is about to throw perfectly good food away, I am always tempted to take it from them. And sometimes I do. I’m not greedy, but I just hate seeing something that could easily be salvaged go into the bin.
People in third world countries are starving, and yet some people still think it’s OK to throw away half their lunch because they “just didn’t feel like it after all”. I’m the type who is very particular about the stuff I leave behind. I squeeze and squeeze a ketchup packet until there’s nothing left, and when tipping a soft drink can into a cup, will tap and tap until I’m satisfied that all the last drops have come out.

I’m the same with everything else too. It’s not just food that annoys me. If there’s a tiny bit of paint left in the tube, you can bet anything that I will be the one to spend 20 minutes trying to get it out. I will cut open a toothpaste tube when most of it is gone to try and get the last bits in the tube, and will attempt to use every single inch of paper that I get. Aerosol cans? I press and press until nothing – and I mean nothing – but air comes out. None of this throwing away when it begins to splutter nonsense for me.

People who throw away money also deserve a slap, in my opinion. I’ve walked alongside people who, after coming out of a 99p shop, will casually throw away their pennies. Statistics have shown that every year, people throw away millions on the streets. Why would anyone waste their money like this?
In the scheme of things, a penny isn’t a lot. But when people who frequently throw loose change away calculate how much money they’ve thrown away, it can add up to quite a lot of money.

Wasted time also irks me. I hate being late (although I sometimes often am), and will often get quite angry at friends who leave me hanging. I know some people don’t mind lateness at all, but if a friend I’m meeting up with is an hour late, that’s an hour I could have spent at home in bed, or doing something equally as worthwhile. >.>

I don’t know where my obsession with saving comes from (besides from not really having enough money to buy all the things I want to buy). It certainly doesn’t come from my mother or grandmother. My family are the type to leave everything where it is if they don’t like it, and will frequently throw good food away when they feel that they don’t want it any more – my grandma is a prime example of this. This makes for awkward mealtimes, when I insist that they at least finish some of their food (one mouthful of a meal they just made isn’t good enough), then get tired of arguing and eat it myself, whereupon I am rebuked for being greedy. It’s a no-win situation.

Frugalness isn’t an admirable trait to have when you live in a developed country, where practically everyone wastes what they have without even thinking about it. I know I can get quite obsessive over this, but it’s difficult not to be. I would be able to understand throwing things away if people at least made an attempt to use them, but when they don’t even make an effort, why should I bother trying to understand?

If I ever get the chance to be a parent, I wonder what I will be like. I hope I’m not one of those parents who forces their kids to eat all their greens and clear their plates even if they don’t want to, but I can see myself heading that way already. ^_^