What's on your Won't Do list?

[Netzach]

I know there have to be some things that I absolutely won't do, but I honestly can't think of anything right now.

While I'm socially aware, my consumer ethics aren't as strong as some of you guys.

Sit through a movie with Nicholas Cage that isn't Raising Arizona. There's one of mine.

 

[midwestyankee]

I will not:

Eat shellfish that have more frequent flyer miles than I do
Drink cheap beer
Watch television just for the sake of watching television
Cheer for local sports teams simply because they're local
Work for a corporation that has more employees than I do right now (i.e., 1)
Drink wine that I think I won't enjoy


To the extent possible, I do not

Eat ground beef that isn't made from organically grown, grass-fed cows
Eat in restaurants that put pre-packaged crackers on every table
Sleep with goats
Date anyone who doesn't get Bill Maher
Take off my belt except to spank someone or to get my jeans laundered
Listen to country music
Play golf with anyone who takes more than 30 seconds to size up and take each shot

I want to

Eat more locally grown foods
Consume less fat and fewer unnecessary calories (wine and scotch do not count)
Lead a more disciplined daily life
Be a better example to my children
Visit Keroin on her island and feed her vanilla ice cream

In other words, I don't know that I intentionally apply ethical rules to much of my day-to-day life in a way that is much different from anyone else.

 

[Hooper_X]

mayonnaise: that's some repugnant shit.

 

[00Syd]

Sit through a movie with Nicholas Cage that isn't Raising Arizona. There's one of mine.

Hmm...

well, that isn't one of mine.

Uhm. uhm. uhm.

I will not eat any sort of fish or sea food from a fast food restaurant, or from my schools dining hall, or from any schools dining hall, etc.

 

[Keroin]

I will not:

Eat shellfish that have more frequent flyer miles than I do
Hooray!

To the extent possible, I do not

Date anyone who doesn't get Bill Maher
Hooray!

I want to

Visit Keroin on her island and feed her vanilla ice cream
Hooray! (But you have to bring the ice cream, sorry. Feeding me taro root would just not be as exciting.

I just watched Religulous the other night. It was funny and terrifying at the same time.

 

[graceanne]

Thought of one.

I won't eat sea-bugs. (Otherwise known as crab, lobster, and shrimp.)

I don't care what you call them, they're bugs, and people eat BUGS.

Ew.

 

[00Syd]

Thought of one.

I won't eat sea-bugs. (Otherwise known as crab, lobster, and shrimp.)

I don't care what you call them, they're bugs, and people eat BUGS.

Ew.

But lobster tastes so good

 

[Recidiva]

I won't:

Ever read a book again and think "It's got to get better." Anne Rice taught me to put the fucker down when it gets bad. It NEVER gets better, or good enough to justify continuing. This applies to movies and TV programs.

I won't buy gas from Exxon, but I will pull in to use any free air they might have to blow up my tires. I consider hot air to be the only service they provide.

I won't ever try to like wine or moldy cheese again. Fuck "acquired taste."

 

[graceanne]

But lobster tastes so good

I don't think so, and I still don't care. It's a bug. It's got pinchies and antanae and six legs. If it was smaller and you saw it you'd squish it. Or scream, climb on a chair and make your SO squish it.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. The first person to eat a sea bug was REALLY hungry.

 

[Keroin]

I've heard people mention those "don'ts," but am unfamiliar with the details. What are the issues here?

To explain properly would take pages but here's the Reader's Digest version:

The old method for commercially harvesting shrimp involved using a "dragger" - nets dragged along the ocean floor, held down by metal or wooden planers. Ninety percent of the catch was bycatch, (ie. not shrimp), and thrown back dead. As well, the planers completely destroyed the habitat they moved over. Ocean genocide. Well, when regulations were brought in to stop this disgusting practice, the companies didn't mothball their fleet, they just sold them off to countries without regulations. Because these countries are usually third world, they sell their shrimp for cheap, which means most shrimp you find in a store or restaurant has been harvested by the old method.

As for the other species, the bill fish have been overfished to the point of near collapse. Sharks are being slaughtered in such huge numbers it's hard to process, (mostly for shark fin soup and they just take the fins and throw the sharks back in the water, alive, and let them slowly bleed to death). Farmed salmon just wrong on every level. If you dive beneath a salmon pen, you will see the sea floor below is a wasteland because of all the excrement that has settled there. Also, they frequently escape, spreading disease to wild salmon and traveling up rivers and creeks, where they eat wild salmon fry. With proper management and regulations, wild salmon would thrive.

Did I say I was going to keep this short?

The ocean has been raped in a way that would never be tolerated on land. But out of sight, out of mind. Humans treat the ocean like it's half all-you-can-eat buffet and half garbage dump. As a general rule, I avoid any commercially caught fish, wherever possible.

 

[XsNrg]

I don't think so, and I still don't care. It's a bug. It's got pinchies and antanae and six legs. If it was smaller and you saw it you'd squish it. Or scream, climb on a chair and make your SO squish it.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. The first person to eat a sea bug was REALLY hungry.

Most didn't eat the whole thing..........they just sucked the insides out.

 

[WriterDom]

I don't blame anyone who has one or no other option for Wally world. I don't have to do that though. I can get fair trade for 8 or 9 bucks a pound, not 13. My co-op accepts food stamps, not everyone on earth lives near that, I get it.

I guess my ethos is that I'm a good consumer. Faced with choices I try to make good ones. I can't blame anyone who really has one store in reasonable driving radius. If only those people used these places there wouldn't be 999000000 of them blanketing the country.

I have this dystopian nightmare in mind: eventually all branding goes away as everything merges into one huge company for everything due to complete eradication of antitrust. The distraction of consumer choice fazes out.

http://www.ccmcoffee.com/index.php?cPath=22

Try them. I've ordered from them twice. Both times it got here two days after I called. They charge a lot for shipping but even so 5 pounds for 28.50 isn't bad.

 

[Keroin]

KFC (who aren't allowed to call it 'Kentucky Fried Chicken' any more because the meat is too over-processed and padded with sugar and water)

Velvet, have you read Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood? (Amazing book, BTW).There's a genetically modified chicken in there and when I read about it I instantly thought, 'Oh Cod, don't be giving KFC any ideas!" LOL.

 

[midwestyankee]

Visit Keroin on her island and feed her vanilla ice cream
Hooray! (But you have to bring the ice cream, sorry. Feeding me taro root would just not be as exciting.

Of course I'd bring the ice cream. And the rope.

 

[pinupkitty]

My absolute nevers:

1. smoke cigarettes
2. watch trash tv programs that are a total waste of airtime and are an insult to anyone with intelligence
3. eat shark fin
4. wear animal fur
5. participate in bathroom activities outside the bathroom (eww, really)

I try to:
1. not eat too much red meat
2. not buy groceries that aren't local... but it's still pretty hard.
3. take transit everywhere
4. recycle everything I can
5. support local small businesses

It actually took a bit of thought to write that... and now that I have I'd like to do better. I'm going to work on the clothes thing.. and the Walmart thing... it's hard when you're in the suburbs though and the closest 3 places to get what you need are 3 different Walmarts.

 

[00Syd]

Ooh, no smoking, ME TOO. Will never smoke cigarettes.

I'd like to say that I'd never do hard drugs, except that I've already decided that if I ever get Alzheimers I'll just slip into a constant high until I kick it.

 

[Recidiva]

Ooh, no smoking, ME TOO. Will never smoke cigarettes.

I'd like to say that I'd never do hard drugs, except that I've already decided that if I ever get Alzheimers I'll just slip into a constant high until I kick it.

I might do heroin right before I die. Definitely so I die before crashing.

Last meal so to speak. Otherwise I don't have the temperament to do drugs.

 

[jockdom]

Sit through a movie with Nicholas Cage that isn't Raising Arizona. There's one of mine.

Not even Wild at Heart?

Leaving Las Vegas was pretty decent too.

 

[YourCaptor]

About seven years ago, I had an interesting discussion with a marine biologist, while we were out on a dive boat together. At this time I was vocal to the point of obnoxious when it came to my #1 cause – the ocean and its inhabitants. (I still slip, occasionally – sorry Etoile). I asked her, given all the ugly she had witnessed, how she was able to function and not go nuts. She told me that she almost did but then she realized the futility of it. Her solution was to choose her top three “won’t do’s”, her own little boycotts, if you will, stick to those and try not to stress over the rest.

Over the years, I’ve become quieter, (not silent, just quieter), but I, too, have adopted my own personal boycotts. I’m not alone; I’ve met others who do the same. Quiet activists. For example, one friend will never shop at WalMart or wear any clothing with logos.

This is my list:

1. Will not eat commercially caught shrimp
2. Will not eat any billfish, (marlin, swordfish, etc), farmed salmon, or shark and will not patronize any restaurant that serves these species.
3. Will not go to zoos, aquariums, marine parks or any place that has captive wild animals except if they are solely for purposes of protection or rehabilitation
4. Will not watch Sylvester Stallone movies – ‘cause he’s an asshole

I’m also thinking of adding the WalMart thing to my list as well.

There are other things I feel strongly about but I’ll be more flexible with, depending on circumstances. But the list above represents my line in the sand, my absolutes.

So, I’m curious. What’s on your “won’t do” list? Do you have a cause you are passionate about and, if so, how do you express that?

Pardon my dumbness, but whats wrong with seafood?

 

[WriterDom]

I bought one of those shopping bags at Walmart for a dollar. They should just give the damn things out and more people would use them. I call it my Obama bag. Some of these walmart people give you 10 plastic bags when you buy 11 things.

 

[eastern sun]

The only things on my "won't do" list were cocaine, heroine and charging someone for sex. But then I went and did one of them.

 

[tkvh4u2]

mayonnaise: that's some repugnant shit.

Digging the tag...Stephen King may be a modern prophet!

 

[Keroin]

Here's a partial answer to your question, YC...

To explain properly would take pages but here's the Reader's Digest version:

The old method for commercially harvesting shrimp involved using a "dragger" - nets dragged along the ocean floor, held down by metal or wooden planers. Ninety percent of the catch was bycatch, (ie. not shrimp), and thrown back dead. As well, the planers completely destroyed the habitat they moved over. Ocean genocide. Well, when regulations were brought in to stop this disgusting practice, the companies didn't mothball their fleet, they just sold them off to countries without regulations. Because these countries are usually third world, they sell their shrimp for cheap, which means most shrimp you find in a store or restaurant has been harvested by the old method.

As for the other species, the bill fish have been overfished to the point of near collapse. Sharks are being slaughtered in such huge numbers it's hard to process, (mostly for shark fin soup and they just take the fins and throw the sharks back in the water, alive, and let them slowly bleed to death). Farmed salmon just wrong on every level. If you dive beneath a salmon pen, you will see the sea floor below is a wasteland because of all the excrement that has settled there. Also, they frequently escape, spreading disease to wild salmon and traveling up rivers and creeks, where they eat wild salmon fry. With proper management and regulations, wild salmon would thrive.

Did I say I was going to keep this short?

The ocean has been raped in a way that would never be tolerated on land. But out of sight, out of mind. Humans treat the ocean like it's half all-you-can-eat buffet and half garbage dump. As a general rule, I avoid any commercially caught fish, wherever possible.

Pardon my dumbness, but whats wrong with seafood?

There's nothing wrong with seafood, I love seafood. There is, however, lots wrong with the way seafood is harvested.

 

[WriterDom]

The only things on my "won't do" list were cocaine, heroine and charging someone for sex. But then I went and did one of them.

I want my money back!

 

[graceanne]

Most didn't eat the whole thing..........they just sucked the insides out.

That's even grosser. Just eat the insides. Ew.

My absolute nevers:

1. smoke cigarettes
.

Oh, good one. Me, either.