The DisHonesty of a Diaper Company

What is honesty? Is it the act of communicating that which is truthful, to the best of our ability, at all times? If we only imply something is true when it is in fact not true, are we being honest or dishonest? I would imply the latter — and for this reason the baby-oriented company called The Honest Diaper Company fails in a major way.

My wife and I were looking to get a few more cloth diapers for our daughter Malka, and so as any person might, we started with Google. Seems straight forward, yes? This was pretty much what we got as a result:

Our first reaction was — oh look, the Honest Company now does cloth diapers. How interesting! And so we clicked on the link and scrolled and browsed and scrolled some more… only to find that they had exactly zero cloth diapers to their name, nor any mention of the words cloth and diaper together — not even in the context of it being a future offering.

So here I can just imagine a tired and frustrated parent — sleepless nights making rational thought nearly impossible, and looking for cloth diapers. The person sees the same link that I saw and clicks on it and browses around but gets frustrated at not finding what they want. “OH, WHATEVER!” they holler at the screen and at anyone who might be in the radius of a block surrounding them. They buy whatever diapers they can on the site — not because they actually want disposable diapers (which will still sit in a landfill for decade after decade regardless of how wonderfully chlorine free they are) but because they were tired and just. wanted. to. end. it.

There is no honesty in a company that tricks people into coming to their site through manipulation. If you sell cloth diapers, advertise that you sell cloth diapers. If you do not sell cloth diapers, however, your company should NOT come up as any kind of result when a person is searching for that.

I hope the company’s advertising representative sees some sense and turns off these dreadful ads. It is quite dishonest and overall reprehensible.

Same Fat, Different Name — Friday Photos 1

One morning after prayers were over at my synagogue of choice, I went into the kitchen for a cup of coffee only to find two containers of milk sitting on the kitchen table.

I immediately noticed something — they were both essentially the same kind of milk, only that they went about telling the world their fat content differently.

On the left we have a jug of milk, which states a one percent milk fat content.

On the right is a carton of milk, which also has one percent fat… but states that it is ninety-nine percent fat free.

It got me thinking about how we present ourselves and our perspective on the world.

For example, a person could say that they are out of shape and that they seldom read any books.

The person could, on the other hand, choose to say that they are working on getting in shape and are developing a reading program to get them into the habit of reading regularly.

This could be the case even if the first day of actual exercise isn’t for more than a week and the person hasn’t even a clue what they want to read or when they want to start reading it!

It’s all a matter of perspective. Do we present ourselves exactly as we are with no hope for future change, or do we present the best that we can be and therefore push ourselves to be greater — day by day?

It’s In The Bag — Friday Photos 14

Close to a year and a half after getting my Rickshaw Small Zero Messenger Bag, I use it daily and it has shown no sign of wear. Here, if you are wondering, is how I make use of its ample space — small is a misnomer in this case!

Counterclockwise starting with the upper left — we have a book called “Who’s Who in The Archers”, a book that has a list of characters that were (as of 2012) current in the BBC Radio 4 soap opera “The Archers” — I carry this because I listen to the podcast of the soap opera and sometimes look up characters if I am not sure who somebody is.

George R.R. Martin — A Clash of Kings. I have been on a schedule of reading the books in the “Song of Ice and Fire” that will have me reading all five of the books that are currently published over the course of 2014.

Kitten Weekly Calendar. I get a weekly calendar nearly every year for a couple of dollars and I rarely use them. Why do I continue to do this to myself? I keep thinking somehow I will start using them.

Blue Bullet Journal — this is my attempt to make use of the Bullet Journal idea, and so far it has not worked at all. Lazy I am.

Fair Trade bookmark — this came when I asked Dr. Bronner’s, the soap makers, for a copy of their Moral ABC book. More on that in a bit. It’s a very sturdy bookmark.

Journal — I write in a journal just about every day — and exactly one journal page per day.

Square register — the register itself is considerably smaller than the case holding it. This is for when I am out and about with copies of my novella and someone tells me they wish they could buy it but only have cash on their person.

Moral ABC Book — if you look near the bottom of a bottle of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap (after you’ve read the whole thing of course) you will see that it tells you that you can send two dollars and get a copy of the Moral ABC book. I tweeted at them for how to send them money.

@DrBronner I keep reading on your bottle that the Moral ABC book is $2. It doesn't say where to send it, though! (Including shipping?)

— Gordon Davidescu (@gordond) February 6, 2014

They told me to give the money to charity and they would send me the book — and they did!

Lastly, headphones. (Great incomplete sentence, Gordon!) I listen to either music or podcasts on the train — it is good for avoiding lunacy on the train as people are less likely to make oddball conversation if they think you can’t hear them!

The Joy of Decluttering

This morning I took an enormous bag along with a suitcase and a couple of smaller bags down to the basement, where the trash and recycling room can be found. There I deposited the items and hoped that they would either find new life in the homes of other people (an ideal scenario) or at the very least, no longer hold a choke-hold over my apartment.

I suspect that other bags will follow as my wife and I continue to clean and de-clutter the apartment.

I have lived in this apartment for nearly five years, and it is absolutely amazing how much completely useless junk I have found myself keeping over the years. Every time I have tried to clean, I spend just a little bit too much time looking at things and thinking about a pleasant memory or two, and then wanting to keep it a bit longer. After reading a few articles on minimalism and keeping an active subscription to Rowdy Kittens, a blog about tiny homes and minimalist living, I decided enough was absolutely enough.

Enough of keeping broken space bags that are only useful in that they take up space and prevent things from falling — we don’t even need the things that are falling!

Enough of keeping a thousand stuffed animals in the closet — we are about to have a second child, don’t the kids deserve to have some fun playing with them as well?

Enough of clinging on to the name badge that I got when I worked at New York Law School in 2002 — what good, exactly, has it served me in the last twelve years since I left the job — and why have I so stubbornly held onto it as though I were suddenly going to get another job there?

Why did I keep that seemingly random copy of a free daily newspaper from two years ago?

Why did I keep the charging cable to a phone I haven’t had since 2009?

All of these are questions that you may find yourself asking — and for the most part, the answer to the question does not really matter so long as the followup to the answer is stuffing it in a rubbish sack and removing it from your home. When you have a box on a bookshelf that is stuffed to the brim with things that you have not touched or looked at for over a year, is there even a point to having any of the things in the box?

Liberate your home from the useless junk — and if your apartment is anything like mine, make sure to vacuum immediately afterward, as dust will get kicked up as you clean!

In a rush? Slow down!

It has happened far too many times. I look at my phone in the morning and realize that I only have a certain number of minutes left to get ready before I have to leave and there are things that need to get done. I rush through them frantically, and dash out of the apartment only to realize half a block away and a six floor ride down the elevator that I left behind something that should not have been left behind. I therefore run back to the apartment and get it, and on my walk to the synagogue both of my shoelaces invariably come undone. I get irritated and wonder why it is that exactly when I have no time to have my shoelaces come undone, this is exactly when it happens.

Except that there is a very good reason why the laces almost always come undone when I don’t have time for them to come undone and why I make more typographical errors while typing an article and trying to get it done in a short amount of time instead of leisurely writing it. The reason is that when I am tying my shoes in a rush, I am not careful about doing it and so even though in theory the fact that they are double knotted should suffice, I am sloppy in the tying and make subtle mistakes that allow the shoes to easily come undone. Couple this with the fact that I am probably stumbling over myself to walk a little bit faster, and you have shoe laces that come completely undone.

Likewise with leaving things behind. Because my mind is so focused on getting out the door, I do not stop and ask myself if I have everything that I need. It could be as simple as a marker board on the door that has a checklist that would consist of a few things that I take to the office just about every single day — my messenger bag, my Whole Foods reusable shopping bag lined with a reusable freezer bag (that keeps food cold for up to three hours) that I have been using for over five years, as well as various things that go into these bags… and my phone and keys. You would not believe how many times I have watched the door closed only to reach into my pocket and find no keys there — and all because I was in a rush.

In a rush? Slow down! Haste makes not only waste but it often leads to you needing to take more time than if you were to do the same thing carefully and with deliberation.

Recognizing Problems Vs. Resolving Them

This morning I made a classic Gordon Davidescu error. I knew I had to get a package out to the post office and I wanted to make sure not to forget it, and so I put a lot of focus into remembering to take the package with me. The problems began when I got to the first floor of my apartment and was bundling up to go outside when I realized that I had completely forgotten to bring my hat and scarf — definitely necessary when it is Hoth outside. I got back into the elevator, unlocked the apartment, went inside, got my hat and scarf, and thanked the person who lives on the same floor as me for holding open the elevator for me.

I got outside and was halfway to the synagogue where I pray in the morning when I suddenly realized that I had completely forgotten to bring my wallet with me. I had taken my wallet out of my pocket when I had ordered pizza the previous evening and had forgotten to put it back. Naturally, I walked all the way back to the apartment and searched for it for a few minutes. Why did I have to search for it? Instead of putting the wallet in a reasonable place, I just put it down wherever was convenient at the moment, which then made for a very inconvenient period of time this morning as I frantically searched around for the wallet. As is always the case, I spent a minute or so pondering how many hours of my life I have spent searching for things because I tend to put things down in convenient locations and then promptly forget that I have done so.

Here’s the problem — this isn’t the first time that I have forgotten something at home because I was so focused on something else. On more than one occasion I have forgotten to take my messenger bag with me because I was focused on taking out the recycling, or forgotten to take my lunch bag with me because I was focused on taking the maintenance check. As far as I can see, there really is only one solution and that is to have a sort of “…duh” checklist on the door. “DID YOU TAKE YOUR HAT AND SCARF?” it will shout at me.

It may be sort of embarrassing to have to do so, but it beats wasting half an hour searching for a wallet that should have been prepared the prior evening. Of course, had I prepared everything the prior evening, none of this would have happened. I suppose this means that the checklist should really be consulted both before bed and before leaving!

How a Five Minute Interview Turns Into A Five Second Clip

I was walking back to my office yesterday after what should have been a five minute walk to the bank took nearly half an hour, when a woman from NBC 4 asked me if I had a few minutes to talk. Sure, I said.

What followed was a five or so minute conversation about everything from the mayor’s handling of the storm to how it was for me navigating the streets. I don’t think they liked what I said about the mayor. The question they asked seemed to say that it wasn’t clear whether the mayor responded appropriately to the last large snowfall on the Upper East Side and I said that it clearly was the case since even the mayor himself admitted error.

I also think they may have not cared for my thought regarding the sidewalks. Specifically, they asked if the city was adequately cleaning them and I said that I had thought it the responsibility of store owners to ensure their sidewalks were appropriately clean – and if a lot was vacant, the moral duty of neighbors to help so that people wouldn’t get hurt.

Here is exactly what did make it onto the news yesterday.

If you didn’t catch that four or so seconds, it’s me saying that “The streets are fine, but the sidewalks are brutal.” Thanks to a Mountain Goats song for leading me to use that word.

Some people get fifteen minutes of fame. I got four seconds of saying the sidewalks were brutal on NBC 4.

A Brief Thought : Telling Lies on The Radio Does Not A Truth Make

The United States has been largely extremely cold this last week, with parts of the country getting so cold that people were advised not to leave their homes except under emergency circumstances — if you need to dress like you are in Antarctica, you know it is cold. The word that has been going around the news is “polar vortex”, which has been used to describe the cause of all this extreme weather. The problems begin when you are a major media figure and you decide that the term must have been invented by the so-called “liberal media” to further a political agenda.

In this case, the media figure was Rush Limbaugh, about whom I have written in the past. Specifically, he said,

…they just created it for this week…Right on schedule, the media have to come up with a way to make it [the cold] sound like it’s completely unprecedented, because they’ve got to find a way to attach this to the global warming agenda.

Such a powerful statement to make — and so easy to verify, so it must be the truth, yes? Absolutely not. It was quickly debunked, and by no less an authority than the American Meteorological Society. On their news page, they announced,

At AMS, we have been publishing the “AMS Glossary of Meteorology” since 1959, and in that first edition, AMS did define the term ‘Polar Vortex.’

It has been therefore well defined for at least three generations. Not just recently invented — defined well before there was any debate about climate change, well before people began being aware of the existence of such a thing.

Spreading lies that can be easily debunked does not make them true. Unfortunately, you will surely hear more people quoting this lie than people debunking it with verifiable truth.

Say NO to Disposable Bags!

It is probably just my wildly overactive imagination — but I know people who seem to treasure and collect disposable bags as though they were stuffed with golden coins. I do realize that the presence of the golden coins would make the bags probably rip, but please try to follow the meaning not too literally. I see them going out to grocery stores and pharmacies and supermarkets and bodegas (a small shop typically only found in New York City, as far as my extremely biased knowledge goes — let me know how wrong I am!) and they always get a plastic bag regardless of how many or how few items they have, and regardless of whether or not they already have a plastic bag or even a reusable bag (such as a messenger bag) on their person!

I see the bags pile up and stack together and gather like fans of the Burning Man festival and it makes me a bit sick to the stomach, thinking of what a tremendous waste the bags are. I hope it’s not just me.

When I go to a pharmacy and I have one or two things to purchase, I always carry them out in my hands — or put them in my messenger bag, if I am wearing it. I always have to tell the person behind the counter that I do not need a bag. Same deal goes for when I go to the supermarket, only there I always have a reusable bag with me. I have heard all of the studies about how you have to use a reusable bag a certain number of times before it is better than a disposable bag and I have to mention two things on this. One is that I have a bag that I carry with me to work that I have used daily for the last four years — so it has been used well over 1200 times at this point. The second thing is that the plastic bag will be in that landfill for multiple centuries. So, so frustrating.

Do yourself and the world a favor this holiday season and try to say no to disposable bags. There are many reusable bags that can be collapsed and fit nicely in the pocket when not in use. If you are only getting one small thing from a store, don’t get or use a bag at all — unless, of course, you need the free hands to crush some candy!*

* I am quite grateful that I have never installed this time leech on my phone.

The Lesson of Chaim and the Yoga Mat

This morning I am at home taking care of my son Chaim while my wife recuperates in bed. It is not yet eleven o’clock in the morning and he has already reminded me of a valuable life lesson — that of not giving up when the task ahead of you seems improbable or even impossible.

Chaim has been rather into exercise lately (I wonder if watching our roommate and I work out daily has anything to do with that!) and he loves the large dark blue yoga mat that I use for some of my workouts — specifically, the ones that involve such moves as downward dog, planks of all sorts, etc. I tried to tell him that the yoga mat was not quite the right size for him, but he would not hear it — and so this morning he wanted to bring it out and do his own moves on it.

The yoga mat stays rolled up for storage but as he struggled to carry it — bear in mind that its width is nearly as long as his entire height — it started to unroll and became increasingly larger. He continued to struggle with it and looked up at me, hopeful of some kind of sign of aid to come. He saw that I had no intention of doing any such thing. I had, after all, told him that it was not the right yoga mat for him.

“Tati, am nevoie de ajutori” he said to me sweetly in Romanian. (Dad, I need help.) He started to say it again but he pushed forward and continued taking the yoga mat further into the living room. As he made his way into the living room, the look on his face changed from one of slight sadness to one of determination — he was going to get the mat out and spread open with or without my help. He did exactly that — he pulled it all the way out into the living room and perfectly laid it out without my help.

The determination that he had while taking out the mat is the same kind you should have when facing a difficult project. If you think of yourself as being unable, you have no reason to even leave the starting gate. If you put yourself in the mindset of being able to accomplish the task, it is just a matter of when and how — and you will strive and overcome the most difficult of hurdles in your way.