wk 4 be green and don't tip

Ziyu Wang

Day 21...

I've been so smart with my money, I have earned the nickname Pennywise the Clown. Three weeks into the Be Green Challenge, I have acquired the ability to try and save as much money as humanly possible in every situation I can. Hell, I don't even tip anymore, because I know by tipping I am playing into a consumerism scam and contributing to the fact that drivers are getting paid less than minimum wage due to the rampant tipping culture here in the US. This morning I DoorDashed 20 dollars worth of food, but I did not tip a single cent. When my driver arrived, I can see the look of disgust on her face, so I hit her with the zero star rating. She should be thanking me for taking a stance in changing her career for the better. Oh the things I do for a better society. To be green and combat consumerism, I am willingly to take the hate of the world. Indeed, the merely mention of the world consumerism fills me with a repulsive disgust. I shall end consumerism once and for all when I run for president in 2040. Vote for me.

This week's reading dealt with the Hmong people's fashion. Hmong women created wonderful pieces of textile arts that tells their cultural stories. The Hmong immigrants in the US are historically discriminated against because they are the minority of the minorities. This means that Hmong people livings in low income families, yet they created such beautiful fashion textile arts with little to no cost. This is what we should all strive for. The Hmong people rejects the concept of fast fashion, and decides to use their own talent to design textile arts that reflects their heritage and culture. Not only do they invokes more empathy in the general population toward the Hmong people, they also indirectly save the environment by not participating in consumerism and fast fashion. There is so much that we can do to change our way of purchasing. Not only can we change our way of thinking by learning from the Hmong people, we also need to change our practices such as the tipping culture, which is a result of consumerism, thus indirectly contribute to environmental issues. 

Reference:

Ava L. McCall (1999): Speaking through Cloth: Teaching Hmong History and Culture through Textile Art,The Social Studies.

Zelinsky, Misha. A tipping culture is bad for the workers and bad for the economy. Image from: https://medium.com/@mishazelinsky/why-a-tipping-culture-is-bad-for-workers-and-bad-for-the-economy-89a2e756b7ba