Do you ever wonder what happened to common courtesy in our world? Comments from trolls on a recent webinar I attended had me thinking about why it’s so hard for some people to be polite.
Welcome to the 182nd edition of The Sunday Spark, a series with weekly thoughts and highlights, nuggets of learning, and a quote of the week. Along with thoughts on our lack of common courtesy, this week’s edition has a look at parking lot solar, coconut oil jet fuel, and the role of Canada’s Indigenous peoples in the clean energy transition.
On my mind this week: When did common courtesy become uncommon?
Last week, I attended a free webinar presented by Joshua Becker of Becoming Minimalist. I’m a big fan of Becker. His book Things That Matter is one of the best books on intentional living I’ve read.
When I saw Becker was offering a free webinar on 7 Principles to Declutter Your Home, I was intrigued enough to sign up. And I wasn’t alone. Sixteen thousand people registered and there were thousands of people on the webinar.
It was hard to keep up with the comments in the chat. Most were very positive and appreciative. Others were just downright rude.
That’s just rude!
Becker started out the webinar with a story to set the stage. A couple of minutes in, chat trolls were telling him to get to the point and move on.
As the webinar progressed, it became clear that Becker was fighting a cold. Instead of appreciating the fact that he was soldiering one despite not feeling 100%, people were saying things like, “Give that man a Kleenex” and “All this sniffling is so distracting”. Truthfully, it wasn’t that bad. I didn’t even notice he had a cold until I saw the comments.
Overcoming consumerism was one of Becker’s seven principles. When he took a few minutes at the end of the webinar to promote The Minimalist Life platform that helps people refocus, declutter and live with less, you’d swear he’d committed a cardinal sin. People were getting all snarky and calling him out for advertising and promoting consumerism by trying to sell his platform.
Sheesh. The guy does a free webinar and can’t get any respect.
All this made me wonder when common courtesy became uncommon in our world. Why do people need to be rude? I suppose it’s just too easy for people to hide behind a keyboard and be nasty. But what does their nastiness do for them? Does it make them feel important or superior?
On the other hand, I was heartened by people who jumped to Becker’s defence—thanking him for sharing valuable information and for taking the time to do the webinar when he wasn’t feeling well.
As Thumper wisely said in Bambi,
If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all.
Words to live by.
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Quote of the week
Really big people are, above everything else, courteous, considerate and generous – not just to some people in some circumstances – but to everyone all the time.
Thomas J. Watson
Three highlights of the week
It’s important to celebrate big milestones and simple pleasures in life. Keeping the trend going, here are three highlights of the week gone by:
- It has been another gorgeous week of fall weather. We enjoyed blue skies, sunshine and spectacular colours. We took advantage of the weather to get out for lots of walks on local trails.
- My travels to New Orleans on Friday were smooth and uneventful. I had time to get out and see some of the city on Friday afternnoon before attending a reception on Friday evening.
- Saturday’s workshop went well and I had more time to explore the city in the afternoon.
Things I learned this week
Life is all about learning. Here are three things I learned this week:
Parking lot solar powers amusement parks
Six Flags has installed solar panels on parking lots in several of its amusement parks, including the latest installation at Six Flags Magic Mountain in California.
These panels generate enough electricity to offset not only the park’s needs, but also the needs of the neighbouring community. And parking under the panels provides shade for cars that would otherwise be parked in the hot sun all day.
(Source: The Carbon Almanac)
Coconut oil shows promise as aviation fuel
Researchers at Osaka Metropolitan University in Japan have developed a new aviation fuel made from coconut oil. When tested in small turbojet engine, this new fuel performed comparably to traditional jet fuel. This shows promise as airlines could potentially adopt these blends without redesigning existing aircraft engines.
(Source: Happy Eco News)
Indigenous peoples play a big role in Canada’s clean energy transition
Canada’s Indigenous peoples have openly criticized many of the fossil fuel projects prioritized by the Canadian government. When it comes to the transition to clean energy, however, Canada’s Indigenous peoples are playing a key role. First Nations communities co-own more than 350 clean energy projects across Canada. These projects generate about $441 million annually for those communities.
By 2031, 24% of Canada’s electricity is expected to be generated through clean energy projects with Indigenous involvement.
(Source: CBC What on Earth)
I’d love to hear what you think about any of this week’s topics. Drop me a comment below and let me know your thoughts and ideas.
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