My building neighbors often have deliveries to their doors, which I presume happens all over New York City. Here are some recent deliveries, first, I think, coffee, pastry, and other doof:

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Next, unnecessary sundries:

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I know plenty of people who marvel at how convenient modernity has made life. I wouldn’t be surprised if I looked enough into my past if I found I liked the prospect of not having to leave my apartment, talk to a person, or even interact in any way with a human or challenges of life to get luxury, polluting, inessentials.

I don’t remember the last time I bought paper towels. Probably before I started avoiding packaged food, which would be over ten years ago. Meanwhile, I have more sponges than I need or can probably use for the rest of my life from people who would throw theirs away at a hint of them no longer being bright yellow. Meanwhile, I’m healthier than they are with their misguided attempts at health through imagining they can avoid contacting bacteria or whatever they think.

Complex systems like life require stress to develop resilience.

Never exploring your boundaries makes otherwise easy and mundane efforts hard, for you at least.

Exploring your boundaries makes challenges easier, fun, and rewarding. Even boundaries as hard as eating a vegetable or cooking with your hands something that was never packaged.

I have a feeling I’ll add more pictures to this post as I see more isolating self-indulgence like the above in my hallways. I’m just back from an evening walk sadly struck by how much people get takeout to eat pizza and drink bottled water right outside the restaurant, throwing away about a year’s worth of garbage for me after ten minutes use. That garbage and the pollution and depletion to create and dispose of it hurts people.

I should get over it, but I suspect I will never acculturate to such nonchalance in the process of hurting people and funding more of it.

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EDIT: July 2025, not that I look for it and I usually pass without taking a picture, but here’s another:

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EDIT: A couple other pictures. I don’t look for them. I can’t help see this waste in my hallway. How hard is it to buy toilet paper? My building has a store that sells it on the ground floor. You don’t even have to cross the street.

• ← Can I save this apple tree a neighbor threw away?
• More junkies shooting up in broad daylight in the park →