Eccentric Flower:199811/sins and shoes and safety stickers

ten eleven rose

sins and shoes and safety stickers

I think that just breaking down the world into sins of commission and sins of omission is not enough.

As someone who has committed a variety of sins of omission over the past few days, I think there are actually several flavors:

1. Things you didn't do because you honestly keep forgetting about them.

You might argue that these aren't really sins at all, but have you noticed how seldom you forget to do things you really want to do? Look more deeply into your subconscious, and you will find one of the types below underlying your memory loss.

2. Things you didn't do because there was something else you wanted to do more.

In my case, this means I would rather write or read or play computer games than go buy new shoes or debug my code. Neither of the latter two is intrinsically unpleasant to me, they're just not as much fun. I lack willpower sometimes.

3. Things you didn't do because you cannot abide doing them, and shirk them whenever possible.

I haven't gotten the car inspected. I thought I was going to get it done yesterday but I missed my window of opportunity. It's thoroughly unpleasant. I must take time out from whatever I'm doing, drive around for a while to get the car hot enough for the emissions check, pull it into a narrow and hard-to-navigate garage, and then pay two surly mechanics for the privilege of checking to see if all my lights work and sticking a little nozzle up my tailpipe to see how foul my car's breath is.

I don't think emissions tests are a bad joke, the way some writers around here do. It's true that your car has to be one of the old Plymouths that spews black smoke all over the street - you know what I mean - in order to flunk the tests, and that watching new or newish cars for emissions is a little bit of a red herring. On the other hand, how do you get rid of those one-in-one-hundred polluting cars if not with emissions tests?

It amuses me that the emissions test is the only part of the inspection that is taken seriously here. They don't check your brakes, your wipers, any of that. Just your lights and your tailpipe. In Louisiana, they do no emissions test - but they drive your car in circles around a parking lot and check your stopping distance. Go figure.

Oh, well. I didn't get the car inspected, but I did buy shoes. Shoes are too expensive! I compared prices at five shoe stores and finally concluded that I was going to be in sticker shock no matter where I went.

(Cars are too expensive too. They should be getting cheaper, not pricier. I bought a car new for $8000 in '92. I will never be able to do that again. It depresses me. But that's another rant.)

If you don't walk a lot during the day, you may not notice how difficult it is to think about other things when you're wearing a new article of clothing. No, this isn't vanity. It's a change in the usual set of sensations which distracts. When I got my lovely new coat, I kept thinking about how it felt and what it did as I moved. I couldn't help it. It wasn't what I was used to. New shoes always do that. I literally could not focus on anything else this morning except the strange way my feet felt while I walked.

Shoe changes make me aware of what my feet are doing; coats and hanging clothing make me aware of what my shoulders and back are doing; tights make me aware of what my hips (what hips?) are doing.

And of course walking down the street in clothing meant for the opposite gender is like being under a magnifying glass. You don't concentrate on anything except your step and your poise and whether your hips are moving too much and keep your shoulders back and look ahead, not at the sidewalk and wow I'd forgotten how much these shoes pinch and I bet the wind is ruining my hair and smile, always remember to smile, a friendly face is much less weird and threatening than a surly one.

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