While I was reviewing for my macroeconomics exam up in the Graduate Library’s sixth floor, I found something that is so ironic. The Law of Demand, one the fundamental basics of free market economy is based on the Slutsky Equation. The equation was derived by Eugen Slutsky, a Russian economist who lived during Lenin’s reign. Back then, Russian, known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic, the only entity that managed to turn the modern world into a safer bipolar order.
C.C.C.P. or better known to the non-Russ speaking people as U.S.S.R. was a communist. Yes, it was but a world with protons and no electrons make life very difficult indeed. Proton is fun but with no electron, there will be no cathode ray tube, meaning I won’t be able to enjoy giving a n00b teammate a headshot with my shotgun at pointblank. w00+! l33+ rules.
The world is certainly a strange place to live in.
Let’s do this again.
While I was returning to my friend’s place from the Graduate Library political section up in the very quiet, an almost white noise audible sixth floor, after sleeping a total of two hours inside a carrel instead of revising macroeconomics for a full 5 hours, I grasped something.
In our life, we perceived many things for granted. In fact, I dare say that most of the thing in our life, from the basic necessity such as water or family members, we assume that these things will be with us forever. Despite knowing that these things would one day be lost, we still consider it as “unlimited resources”.
I myself used to take things for granted. Frankly, even right now, although realizing the reality, I still take some things for granted. But unlike some people, or should I say unlike most people, I realized it.
My idiotic perception, being taking-things-for-grantedism crumbled when I was about 19. I was sleeping and was about to awake from a sweet slumber. The sun rose and heated up part of my room. Slowly, the heat started to annoy me and thus, I decided to wake up. So I opened my eyes and observe the same old room, always the same, always never changing. Whilst I was contemplating on whether waking up was worth it, I tried to move my right hand from the part. Oddly, nothing happened – no movement by the hand. Imagine, you tried to move your one of your body parts, and nothing happened. At first, I thought something heavy like a hard covered Physics book fell and rested on my hand. I made a few more tries until I finally realized my right arm couldn’t be move anymore!
How rude was I awakened, facing the possibility of losing a hand to absolute no reason. My thought was full of terror. Worse, it was my right hand, the hand that I used to feed myself, to write, to type and to do countless other things.
I sat up on my bed and touched the dead hand. It was cold and it certainly reinforced my fear. My right hand had every other human’s feature but the sense of touch. My left hand picked its counterpart up and released it from the highest possible point and sadly, it fell downward, as fast as the gravity. Later, I tried every other thing in hope that I could control the other arm again.
It took me quite awhile to absorb reality. I almost shed tear knowing that I’ve lost an arm.
Despair was the only thing in my mind until I felt that my right arm’s fingers were actually moving. Suddenly, I felt Prometheus in my right arm flesh and soon, my arm was mine again to do as I please. My joy overfilled my heart and shoved despair away from my thought.
I was thankful to have my hand again and ending this entry with a cliche, from that moment on that I stopped taking things for granted.
This cliche has a far reaching consequence. Not only do I cherish every moment for the existence of my organs and all, I starts to sympathies for others shortcoming. I had a rather indifferent feeling on the incapables back then.
Most important of all, perhaps it started the green spark in me. I’ve stopped wasting water and electricity when I don’t need it. I’ve started to save and conserve almost everything. I’ve started to see the reason behind the concept of three green arrows making a 360 degree vector. I’ve begun to stop using paper towel needlessly. Perhaps, maybe this cliches, the lesson in life, usually, the kind of manuscript an elementary school kids would write was the seed to my belief in environmentalism.
I later found out that the hand was numbed due to lack of blood circulation.
On personal note, University of Michigan offers major in Economics, concentrating in Green Economics. Sassy. And on July first, I’ll be heading to Yosemite National Park in California for hiking for a full ten days. I hope the journey from Detroit to Yosemite will be via Los Angeles and San Francisco. w00t!
Sorry Tod, I guess the deal to Florida is off. I rather hug a red sequoia than a naked chick. Wait a minute, what am I doing? For the love of God, it’s naked chicks.
Before ending this entry, I would like to share a joke. I am a male so I can’t help being a little bit chauvinist.
“Recently scientists revealed that beer contains small traces of female hormones. To prove their theory, the scientists fed 100 men 12 pints of beer and observed that 100% of them gained weight, talked excessively without making sense, became emotional, couldn’t drive, couldn’t think, and refused to apologize when wrong. No further testing is planned…”
-tobp.com
p/s – The new design is in and the code implementation will be done soon. By soon, I mean snail mail’s soon.
p/p/s – change of plan. Since the ticket is getting pretty expensive, I’m rerouting my route from via Los Angeles to via San Francisco. My initial budget was near USD500 but after rearrangement, the budget when down to USD400 level. Sounds a lot but I am sure my mother will inject something into my account later. Anyway, with all the money in the account, I think I could afford it without even feeling the pain.