Perhaps I'm not really a dirty money-grubbing capitalist - Mom prefers to call it "economical". Whatever you call it, I have a very well developed sense of money and how to use it. Combined with my book addiction, it is a formidable tool indeed.
During the first few months of SJC, I noticed that on Saturdays, students were lugging freight-car size loads of laundry to the room beneath Murchison dorm every two weeks. It was easily four loads of laundry right there. A conservative estimate places their expense at $30/month. That is ridiculous. Now I don't even have that much laundry, but such an expenditure appalls me. They're not even doing anything to get clothing dirty! You go to class and eat, and unless you do blue-collar work, if you're careful, you never get clothing dirty!. I therefore resolved to watch my laundry habits. I arrived at St. John's second semester armed with extra white laundry and plotted. I discovered that since I only work three days a week, I could wear the same pair of pants/shirt and didn't need to wash them! This cuts down on laundry in general and now I'm trying to see how long I can go without washing these pants - it's been four months so far. With the massive amount of white laundry (socks and underwear) I possess, I haven't done laundry once since the spring semester started, and I spent the laundry money in the bookstore instead. Would I rather spend $15 doing laundry or buying Euripides? What kind of a choice is that?
Then there's shaving. Personally, I am against it. It takes five - ten whole minutes every other day or so, and if I were capable of growing more than four hairs on my face I'd totally grow a full beard. Make no mistake, when I am able to do so, I'll happily kiss shaving g'bye. Then there's the expense. It costs seven dollars to buy a can of shaving cream! I can get the entire works of Aristophanes for that much. Then I discovered you don't even need shaving cream! Water works just as well! I was thrilled, and the seven dollars went to the bookstore instead of Wal-Mart.
And food, let's not forget food. My metabolism hasn't slowed down yet, so 14 meals a week is as low as I can get without losing weight, but a ten meal/week plan only costs $1500 as opposed to $2000 for 14. And even 14 is $500 cheaper than 21. Who needs to eat three times a day? I certainly don't. I discovered that if you stretch your stomach, you can hold MASSIVE amounts of food in there. Chock one up to fiscal conservatism, and I'll pocket the $500, thank you very much, and I'll head to the bookstore, hooray!
This is a very long-winded explanation that money goes EVERYWHERE at my age, and being fiscally responsible is quite profitable. (and I won't deny that having a pair of pants that hasn't been washed since November is really cool in a nasty sort of way) I'm going to be reading Aristotle and Euripides for the rest of my life. When Nicomachean Ethics and Euripides V both cost $11, wouldn't I rather have these books (which will last me the rest of my life) than a load of laundry? A lifetime of learning compared with what - having plenty of clean clothes? Give me a break. The Scholar (Canterbury Tales) had his priorites in the right place.
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8 comments:
bleah!
you're so GROSS!
Tim, there is a difference between being thrifty(which is commendable) and being dirty (which is deplorable.)
Even if the unwashed pants in question are only worn for dirty B & G work, you never know who you might run into while wearing them-- like, maybe, the faculty member who would host you for spring break?
Wash the jeans.
y'all are just JEALOUS, that's what. :)
jealous of being filthy?
if I want to be filthy, I can.
you're just too gross tim.
:P
hey, in dissidence to the others, I think you're to be commended for valuing a lifelong education over clean underwear. Clean jeans and tighty whities ain't all that. You can wash stuff out in the sink and hang it up in your room anyways, which is something yours truly did often enough during her dormie days.
And to those who think good hygiene gets the chicks, I have to point out that Bob Dylan was unhygienic in every sense of the word and the dames went wild over him.
Also, as my roomie likes to say, "Show me a bachelor with a clean kitchen and nine times out of ten I'll show you a psychopath."
You can buy Nicomachean Ethics on Amazon used for $2.99+$3.99 shipping, you can buy Euripides V for $1.49+$3.99 shipping. Instead of spending $22 you could have spent $11.50. Assuming a wash costs $1.50 and a dry costs $1, that would buy you 4 loads of laundry--probably enough for an entire month of laundry AND 2 or 3 packages of ramen noodles.
No one says you shouldn't value an educated mind more than cleanliness, but if you're going to be fastidious about saving money (which I do find comendable) then why pay twice as much as you need to on books?
It's all about book quality. Sure, I could spend one fifth as much on books, but I'd wind up with highlighted, beaten, battered, dog-eared, and noted editions with CRAPPY translations. You really get what you pay for. Right now I'd rather have beautiful editions of wonderful translations of great books than a few extra loads of laundry.
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