3. Respect Your Planet
a.k.a. mother earth ain’t no trifling female
This is the tough one. Every one of the billions of people on this planet has a different idea of what “respect your planet” might mean. I can’t speak for you guys, so I’m going to lay out my slacker white boy views on the subject.
1.Pick up after yourself.
In this consumer society it is more important than ever to lessen your carbon footprint and the amount of trash that you generate. This requires several “ask yourself ” moments. Do you really need to replace your 47″ television with the new 60″ model? How will you dispose of it properly? Are you going to pass it on down the line to a relative, a friend, or resell it on craigslist? How do you make sure that you pride and joy of justa few years back stays out of the city landfill.
Do you fall in the Pepsi camp or the Coke camp? Never mind. That was a rhetorical question. I can’t figure out why so many bottles and cans and cartons and cups end up on the side of every road in America. Let’s talk sandwiches. Are you a Big Mac or Whopper girl? If you’re like me, it doesn’t really matter. They are the easiest way to get half of your calories for the day in about three minutes. And then there’s the excessive packaging. Imagine if everyone were to carry around a refillable mug. A lot of you do, but then again, I’m not talking about you (unless you’re a chucklehead). Reuse, recycle, Reuse.
Just do the right thing.
4. Take Responsibility For Your Actions
Back when I was a restaurant manager, I worked for the second largest food company in America. When you run a corporate restaurant like that, you are bogged down with a lot of rules and regulations. It’s almost as bad as working in the government. It’s a lot to juggle and still get the pizzas out the door.
I was the guy that picked up all of the misfits and got them to do a good job. I’ve worked with addicts, baby gangsters and real live criminals. I had a pipeline from prison to the halfway house to the kitchen of my restaurant. As a result, I dumbed down the corporate reg-speak and boiled it down to four basic rules.
1. Don’t lie
2. Don’t steal
3. Be on time and in uniform
4. Take responsibility for your actions
The first three rules speak for themselves. The fourth is defined as this. If you screw up, come clean. It’s much better to hear it from your lips than have someone rat you out. This is a good life rule. I have not always followed it. I lost my last and best hope for romance because of it. I didn’t lie, as such, but I withheld the truth. Goodbye, girlfriend. Hello, loneliness.
Only you can control your integrity. Your word is your reputation. Your actions are your legacy. If you screw up, own up to it. There will be consequences, naturally. But your integrity cannot be denied.
Just do the right thing.
The Tao Of Brother T 