Surface or Substance?

“Surface or Substance?” this is indeed is a very interesting question. This short story she has written is full of varied opinions that seem to point out that in our culture today it is almost impossible to have one without the other. Not to say that they are equally important in all cases but they truly have varying degrees of priority in certain cases. I find this to be very in true in many cases even with certain jobs.

I believe I saw the saddest example of mismatch of priorities for one such position in Edmonds, WA a few weeks ago. I was riding in the car with my brother and we were headed back to his apartment. He lives on a street chalked full of stores and outlets of all kinds and as we passed one of the many coffee shops on the street he pointed out the sign written on the window of one. It said, “Sexy Women and Coffee here”, and he proceeded to tell me that many of these small stop-and-go coffee shops were located around the Edmonds area. Apparently, the women that work there really don’t need much job experience or any sort of skill whatsoever, so long as they are – shall we say, blessed in the chest area and have a pretty face. Their uniform consists of a short skirt and two stickers. Now obviously, the job is biased to women that are “sexy” and not those who are more so qualified to do the job of making and serving coffee. This only furthers the point of how people are drawn to aesthetic pleasure of life, and rather than looking for a place that serves excellent coffee, that being the substance of the matter, they sacrifice good coffee for a brief look at a good looking girl with seemingly a lack of self-respect.

I would have to agree that in many occurrences today the look and feel of things can sometimes override the actual purpose of owning or attending something. A sad truth about the consumer culture of America and many other countries is that the items that we own can be seen as what defines us. Whether or not this person owns a nice car, or is wearing nice clothes, or even the type of items they own gives people a glimpse of who that person may or may not be. To a certain extent I believe this is true, the items that we are willing to spend our hard earned cash on will dictate what our interests may be, but by no means can someone make a judgment call on who we truly are simply by the items we own. Surface or substance, both have a large role in the mindset of today’s people and the way life is lived, people are judged, and statuses are achieved.

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/food/sexy-coffee-shops-spread-184901/
http://surfaceassubstance.com/
http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/767829/to-appeal-consumers-inner-desires/

The Wreck of Time

        Annie Dillard's perspective that she throws out to her readers definitely stirs up some interesting thought processes. At first glance it can seem like an overly morbid outlook on life. She uses all these statistics and numbers that seemingly crush any reason for valuing the individual and the lives that we lead. It’s true though, there have been and currently are so many people on this planet that we are merely one in billions, a single grain of sand amongst many that make up a beach.
 Dillard ends her story with a quote from an English journalist saying, “Either life is always and in all circumstance sacred, or intrinsically of no account, it is inconceivable that it should be in some cases the one, and in some the other.” I personally feel that life is sacred! How can it be that we are created in such a miraculous process starting from nothing and turning into a talking, walking, and thinking human being if we were only meant to live for a very short period of time cease to exist in any way shape or form. There has to be meaning for the sacrifices made, the hardships endured, the laughter created, and the questions asked. Life is only so sacred because it is such a fragile thing, it can be gone in a moment!
To be misunderstood is something that I fear the most. It’s a horrible feeling that I get when I say or do something that people take the wrong way. I can’t imagine what the creator of this place and our lives must feel when people take life so lightly. It is a gift, that is what life is, and it should be lived to its fullest, taking advantage of the moments that seem to pass us by day after day. I mean, imagine giving someone a watch, but when they get it they look oddly at it. Twirling it in their fingers, staring at it from different angles, and inspecting the different knobs and buttons. After a short while of studying and observing they stand up straight look at it with confidence and begin to use it only as a mirror. Sure, they found a use for it, but that was not what it was meant for. They may look at it, but only to see themselves, unable to see past their own reflection and realize its inner workings and ability to judge time with a series of gears and cleverly crafted pieces.
Dillard doesn’t seem to dictate her views one way or another but leaves it open for the readers to decide for themselves, which side of the fence they would like to be on. I find it very interesting how she uses her stories and arguments to push and pull readers to think about life in different ways.


http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/life/
http://lifehacker.com/