Things that drive me crazy

There are just some of the things that drive me crazy!

Sustainable Fashion – An Oxymoron

“Fashion” industry brands compete for the best possible “sustainable” rankings. Regardless, designers and brands pump out new styles, fits, and colours season after season. This does not encourage real sustainability. Yes, it is important to:

1. Ensure healthy labour conditions and fair pay
2. Consider the environment when selecting raw materials

However, it is more important to encourage consumersto re-wear quality clothing year after year. We should adapt the Patagonia mantra to “re-use, repair, recycle”. Unfortunately, I don’t know how to recycle those synthetic exercise clothes that have a lingering odour, regardless of how often washed. So, buy Merino wool tee shirts at Icebreaker! 

Sustainability begins with us, the consumers. Buy better, buy less!

My Bad

Is it really so hard to say “my mistake”? or even “oops”? “My bad” makes the user sound like a two-year old. I live in Québec. So the first time I saw this term used, I thought it was just an honest mistake. I wanted to suggest a more grammatically correct alternative to the writer. I resisted.  Maybe I would have had to say “my badder”!

Reach Out

I cringe every time I hear this expression, often uttered breathlessly. It seems to be used almost universally to replace shorter, more descriptive actions such as to call, to visit, to check-in, or to follow-up. I confess, I have used this phrase. You can’t see me but I blush every time that I do. 

“I” after a Preposition

You know! “Between you and I” or “With him and I”! It is “between you and ME” or “with him and ME”. Can you imagine what the same mistake would sound like in French? It would be “entre vous et je” or “avec lui et je”. Sounds awful.  I am sure that I have been lulled into this same error when, in a long conversation, the incorrect form has been used consistently. 

Woke, Socialist, Conservative as Insults

How did this happen? Definitions:

Socialist – someone who believes in a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole. 

Conservative – someone who holds political views that favour free enterprise, private ownership, and socially traditional ideas.

Woke – a term that refers to awareness of issues that concern social justice and racial justice.

Certainly, socialists and conservatives have different points of view that generate creative tension. But, it is this creative tension that can often lead to good policy. My personal politics are ill-defined, so to insult me it would have to be so-con. 

Now, it is possible to be too “awake”!  I read a short article this week which suggested that there are ethics committees debating the deletion of the term “mother” from official legal language as it is not inclusive enough. 

This is just the start of some of the “things that drive me crazy”.