Waste Not, Want Not

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27 Mar

4/6/2016

The Lay of the Land

By Lyn Messersmith

Waste Not, Want Not

            Among my friend’s keepsakes is a letter that his grandmother, Maude, wrote to her mother shortly after moving to the Panhandle of Nebraska. I don’t know what year it was written, but it shows various ways that times have changed, not only in our area but society in general. There is mention of Indian camps in the meadow, scarcity of neighbors, and such, as well as evidence that the writer needed to conserve whatever she had.

            Like most letters of the time, the pages are covered on both sides, from top to bottom, with tiny script, so as to utilize all possible space, and then the messages continue in the margins. The last line on the page says, “Look in the envelope,” and sure enough, Maude had unfolded the envelope and covered the available space with more of her news. Paper was a precious commodity for the settlers; no telling where or when they could get a new supply, or even if they could afford to buy it. In contrast, I received an appointment reminder today that is three lines on a whole sheet of computer paper, and I also placed in the recycle box four catalogs and several pages of ads that came in the same mail. 

            Again, in contrast, every monthly bill and bank statement encourages me to go paperless, forego writing checks, and save the environment. Obviously someone doesn’t realize we can’t have it both ways, any more than America can make a dent in global air pollution by reducing dependence on fossil fuels while developing nations are allowed to ignore the problem.

            I once wrote a poem based on a story told to me about a pioneer family that had several girls who loved to dance. There was one pair of shoes among them, so accepting invitations to dance was based on whose turn it was to wear the shoes. When I tell the poem to school kids, I always ask  how many of them have more than one pair of shoes, and even in the poorer neighborhoods, all of them do. I also explain to them that there was a time when showing bare feet, or an ankle, was very improper for a girl or woman. They look at me like I had just arrived from Mars.

            My shelves are laden with books of all kinds, but for many of our ancestors, the only book in their homes was a Bible, and lucky if anyone could read it. Storytelling was the way information was passed down, for the most part, but we don’t do much of that now; electronics do it for us, but not as well. A therapist tells me that one of her clients, who runs a day care, mentioned a child whose behavior was problematic. She was able to get to the root cause when the youngster sobbed that no one at home plays with him. They are all busy with their electronic games.

            Our world is full of mixed messages. Buy this. Save that. Be ambitious. Don’t work too hard. Have fun. Be responsible. Be healthy. Eat at this place, the portions are generous. No wonder we are confused, and frequently get off track. We have too much, do too much, hear too much, want too much and waste too much, and know too little of real value. Maybe we need to be a little more like Maude, who knew what she had and what it was worth.