Images illustrating our culture today
I keep coming back to three images that illustrate our time. I’ll add more if new ones arise.
The first is someone sitting on a beautiful beach scrolling on their phone through images of other beautiful beaches, wishing they were there instead. (Only the beaches are covered in litter too).
The second is someone riding a Citibike through traffic, one hand on the handlebar, then other holding a disposable cup of coffee.
If you ask the person why they’re drinking coffee while riding, why not drink it while not riding, they might say something like, “I don’t have time. I’m not so privileged to sit around. I have to earn money.” But people who stop getting disposable and switch to drinking it at a cafe, at home, or at the office find they have more time not less. In any case, they can’t enjoy the coffee while riding, so buying it was a dead weight loss. Instead of sitting to drink it, they could have not bought it.
The thirds requires context. I see it at the fridge where I volunteer and deliver food where anyone can take from it for free. After a large donation, people in front may take a while picking through what’s there and those behind, waiting for access, get annoyed. I participated in several deliveries of farm-fresh vegetables from the farmers market, I’ve heard people calm the people behind others, waiting to access the fridge by saying, “There’s no food in there, just vegetables.”
The third is followed up by all the people walking away from the fridge, leaving behind many delicious, nutritious vegetables. I take what I can so they don’t get thrown away, meaning I consume food homeless people reject.
Read my weekly newsletter
On initiative, leadership, the environment, and burpees