Depending on other people

[cjsmith]

My shell account at my ISP is currently pretty much unusable because my homedir's disk is full. This happens every few months. They eventually get around to doing housecleaning, but until they do, I'm stuck. In particular: no personal mail. Grr! I hate depending on other people for stuff like this. It means that if someone else is slow or sloppy, I pay a price.

The only alternative to depending on others, though, eventually means mining some ore myself, purifying the copper and the silicon, creating a computer... you get the idea. Plus growing and weaving my own fibers for clothing... Somewhere, I have to find the right place to draw the line.

Speaking of where to draw that line, why is it far more common to create one's own food than to create one's own clothing? There's a huge support infrastructure for that: competing megagrocery chains, Williams-Sonoma, whole industries devoted to making special sauces for the "cook" to heat up and pour... the list goes on. The support infrastructure for sewing, while still biggish, is far smaller. The prevalence of that choice is pretty ingrained in some ways. But cooking for oneself every day takes more time than maintaining a home-sewn wardrobe would take. Food that isn't right is usually merely annoying, just like clothing that isn't right -- except clothing that isn't right annoys for a longer time. Why pick cooking over sewing? Did all that structure grow out of those infrequent cases where food that isn't right can cause serious illness? (All that and we haven't eliminated those cases, either!)

Speaking of sewing, I really need to get my sewing machine overhauled. Depending on other people again... and yes, the fact I have procrastinated this errand has a lot to do with the fact that I don't know whom to trust with the work! :-)

Hey. How come LJ has a mood selection for "exanimate" (WTF?) but not one for something so prosaic as "whiny"? (Or is what I need now the also-nonexistent "rambling"?)

Comments

[brian1789.livejournal.com]

why is it far more common to create one's own food than to create one's own clothing?

Hmmm... in this culture, I believe it has to do with what skills are handed-down between generations. Food preparation happens far more often than clothes-making, so (for example) parents are more likely to train their kids to cook simple meals before they teach them skills (such as sewing, or auto repair) that are used less often.

A better comparison would be between knowing how to cook simple meals, vs. knowing how to do ones' own laundry (clothing-wise, it occurs much more often than making new clothes). I think most people would know how to do both activities by the time they are, say, 20.

Personal data point: I was the oldest of three kids, and starting at 14 my mom went back to work and I became responsible for watching my younger sibs as well as making dinner for the whole family (on most weeknights). But I never needed to learn to sew, so never was taught, so consequently I walk around nowadays in business meetings with missing shirt buttons... I have bought new off-the-rack shirts rather than attempt to sew on two kissing buttons, but I'm conversely a pretty good cook.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

My own personal data point: The first thing I was taught was laundry. The washing machine and the dryer were both sturdy enough to climb on so I could reach the knobs. I have no memories of a time when I didn't know how to do laundry.

Then I was taught sewing, before cooking, possibly because I could reach the sewing machine earlier than I could reach the stove... it was that early. I could make straight seams on the machine at a very young age. I have no idea why I never sewed my thumb into anything. Well, I didn't until I was a lot older, at least. :-)

Later, when I and eventually my siblings too were old enough to learn to cook, my mother realized that this meant she didn't have to do it any more. I cooked regularly (when it was my turn, that is) for a family of five for more than a decade. I now feel that I have "paid my dues" in terms of cooking and cleaning. I will no longer cook, I will no longer do any dishes but my own, and I purchase for potlucks. I am done.

Doesn't help that most of my extended family expects the woman to cook while the man watches football. I got a little rebel streak in me, ya think? :-)

[brian1789.livejournal.com]

sturdy enough to climb on so I could reach the knobs

I tried this at an early age, but my mother shooed me away rather than capitalize on my interest to teach me. Gender-linked socialization strikes again...

Another side issue... as far as kids' experimentation goes, parents often seem more willing to allow children to "waste" flour than "waste" cloth.

most of my extended family expects the woman to cook while the man watches football

(grin) so, Raiders or 49ers? At my house, I'm more likely to be in the kitchen playing with things on a Sunday afternoon, while Pat is elsewhere explaining zone vs. man-to-man coverages to David or James...

I got a little rebel streak in me, ya think? :-)


Yep, one of your more-attractive features, per se (even though you aren't a Southerner ;-)...

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I tried this at an early age, but my mother shooed me away rather than capitalize on my interest to teach me. Gender-linked socialization strikes again...

Or simply the fact that my mother was immensely practical. She jumped at the chance to avoid doing it all herself! :-)

Too bad I don't like sports either. Otherwise I could've made quite the little feminist issue out of the whole thing. Instead, I just don't visit those people any more. Easiest all round.

(even though you aren't a Southerner ;-)

Well, maybe I can compensate with a few things. :-)