disturbing the comfortable

[sophiaserpentia]

Stuff White People Like

Oh, this new blog ruffles the feathers in all kinds of ways. It's brilliant. The comments on each post are proof that it's working. Yes, the criticism that this really mainly applies to yuppies is true, but since they are dominating a lot of the urban cultural dialogue it's still funny and informative to observe the squirming.

Recycling is a part of a larger theme of stuff white people like: saving the earth without having to do that much.

Recycling is fantastic! You can still buy all the stuff you like (bottled water, beer, wine, organic iced tea, and cans of all varieties) and then when you’re done you just put it in a DIFFERENT bin than where you would throw your other garbage. And boom! Environment saved! Everyone feels great, it’s so easy!

... If you are in a situation where a white person produces an empty bottle, watch their actions. They will first say “where’s the recycling?” If you say “we don’t recycle,” prepare for some awkwardness. They will make a move to throw the bottle away, they will hesitate, and then ultimately throw the bottle away. But after they return look in their eyes. All they can see is the bottle lasting forever in a landfill, trapping small animals. It will eat at them for days.

Comments

Re: *snickers*

[deifire]

*snerk* This reminds me of the all-white academic seminar on white privilege in which it was determined by general consensus that I was the only person in the entire room who had a culture. (Apparently, blue collar, rural and southern is just enough of a shade off "normal" that white college students can actually see it. Seminar conclusion: Okay, so embarrassing and occassional identifiable "ethnic" varieties of white culture exist--and some people are Jewish--but the rest of "us" don't have one. Are we lacking something?)

Of course, I've since grown into the type of person who can't go out to buy beer for the Daytona 500 without coming home with stout brewed with love and fair trade organic coffee by the local microbrewery...