People's reactions to what we see as "normal"

[Jobi1canobi]

Having just changed my electricity supplier I got the usual sales calls from the old supplier trying to find ways to make me stay...

Him: We've compared ourselves to the market and although we are more expensive in x, y, z, we are cheaper in a, b, c...
Me: To be honest, it's not necessarily about the cost anyway...
Him: (obviously not listening) If it helps, we can reduce your direct debits. Let me just check what your paying.....(short pause)...actually you're in credit by.....(another pause)...£192.08....that's quite alot!
Me: That's because we don't leave everything on standby and use as little gas and electricity possible...
Him: (Silence)

[ina]

I'm so jealous!! I'd love to have a septic tank!

Just make sure nobody else is connected to it! We've had trouble in the past caused by people new to all the living in the country stuff, and chucking just about everything in there... Ergh, I'd better not list. But it's not nice having to dig it all out.

[ina]

There are now 4 - male, female, data not collected and indeterminate

Wonder what the Govt. statisticians make of that?

Do you think we may need that category more often in future, now that a "man" has just had a baby?

I wonder, does s/he call him/herself a father or mother?

My mind boggles...

[ina]

Having just changed my electricity supplier I got the usual sales calls from the old supplier trying to find ways to make me stay...

Who did you change to? I still have to take that step - can't quite make up my mind where to, though.

And yes, it's difficult for them to believe how little one can use. A year ago, I owed them something like 3 pence at the end of the year. They happily informed me that they will therefore raise my monthly contribution from £30 to £39. With the result that after a few (summer) months they owed me a fortune... And have since paid it back, of course.

[yugogypsy]

Most of my friends are aghast that I don't have TV, on cable or for just watching tapes or DVD's.

I tell them, I have my computer, it give me all the news, weather and other info I need.

And its great not to have that extra bill at the end of the month!

Lois

[Teasal]

We only have one vehicle, and thats necessary for the farm, and carrying all my feed, hay etc. I walk to work, around 4 miles. I enjoy walking, whatever the weather, and walk back. The man I work for, only walks from his front door to the car, and cannot understand why anyone would walk anywhere. He is always offering to give me a lift home, and cannot understand me, when I say I like walking, and no thank you. He even ferries his children to the bus stop just down the road!!

We only have heat from an open coal fire in the farmhouse we live in, and the whole house is in need of complete renovation. We do not have double glazing either. Neighbours are very concerned that we live like this, and it must be dreadful, and it will make us ill. Well, we are still here, aren't we?

And why can people not understand that although we do have a television, I do not watch it? What do you do instead? is the usual question. Oh, gardening, seeing to all my animals, etc. etc. I get another look of pity then .....

Actually I feel sorry for these people, that material things are so important to them.

[old tree man]

People for years have shyed away from me for years because they say theres the hippie with the long beard who grows his own and eats "stuff" from the woods, its good fun really when i have to pop into town with my different array of hats and my sandels on i have heard people say looks like that bronson character or dosent he remind you of jumanji
first impression are really funny most of the people who always talk to me are the elderly who remember what its like to eat fresh grown vegetables and make rabbit pie done in ale or phesant cold on salad with home made pickle.
the problem with today is that people just can't be bothered its to easy just to buy it pre packed in five layers of plastic thats why they have lost there taste buds they would get a taste overload if they ate real food

all te best
Russ

[eccentric_emma]

at work i get odd looks, most recently because i started taking in a bottle of water with a lime squeezed into it for a change from plain water. i got asked 'why dont you just buy a bottle of lime flavoured water??' but i pointed out thats very expensive and most flavoured water you buy has loads of artificial sweeteners put in!

also people get confused when i say i dont have a tv although when i explain my reasons they generally agree.

[LBR]

Televisions: Only have a piece of wire stuck in the back of the television. I get 1 - 3 channels, depending. It's enough for the the hour or two a week, or a month, I watch.

Housing: Here's one that is hugely vilified here: I live in a mobile home, which I own. I paid cash for it. No more renting an apartment. My utility bills are half of what the other mobile home owners here pay.

If I'd had the courage to get rid of a lot of belongings, I would have bought an RV (travel trailer) and moved into that.

Thrift Shops: I buy clothing, furniture, household, and gardening items at thrift shops.

Picking Up things: when someone else has put something out for trash pick-up and I can make good use of it, I carry it home.
I've lamps, a typewriter, a rake, furniture, gardening supplies and misc. useful stuff from this method.

Hair: Don't go to a hairdresser. Trade haircuts with a neighbor.

No packaged foods: Make things "from scratch".

Poison-free: No GMO, or growth-hormone-containing foods. Organic whenever possible. Cleaning supplies are baking soda, vinegar, borax, hydrogen peroxide, and Bon Ami (another powdered mineral), and for extreme spots, washing soda.

Laundry: I hang it on the line outside. In high pollen season, or inclement weather, it goes on racks and poles inside. I have a pole in the shower and one running the length of the room I use for a dressing/storage room.

Gardening: I use my bath water and carry buckets out to a large container for watering my plants. Also collect rain water. Don't plant annual flowers. Most bushes are native and drought tolerant.

Even here in the mobile home park, these things are looked down upon. I don't tell people where I live or what I live in. The media propaganda has made living in a mobile home akin to everything undesirable in "society".

There are probably a few more.

I have found that anything outside the self-indulgence, instant-gratification, addiction-to-distraction, addiction-to-entertainment frame of reference is seen as a threat. The greater the emotional attachment to that system, the greater the reaction to anything outside that system.

If someone is sincerely interested, I'll help with info or relating experience. If it's curiosity, I just go on.

I hope more post in this thread. It's useful to see what happens when someone is practical and healthy.

[eccentric_emma]

Picking Up things: when someone else has put something out for trash pick-up and I can make good use of it, I carry it home.

We do this too! and my husband got stopped by the police! (well technically it is illegal but its stupid). i couldnt believe it though.

[farmerdrea]

Very interesting topic. I am basically estranged from my family because of our 'odd' way of life, something to which, according to my father, no one can relate, so we must have nothing to talk about. Very sad indeed, especially as it's a way that my father, at least, used to strive for when we were children (I grew up an a small-holding, my parents grew all our vege, we had a huge orchard, raised rabbits and chooks), but it has been replaced with a very consumerist way of life. No idea what caused the change. My sisters think I am from another planet, and that our way of life is so much 'work'. I don't see it that way at all. It brings me great joy and satisfaction to be doing what we're doing. I don't think even think of buying anything new (well, except socks, undies and gumboots), and we always shop second-hand first and make a considered purchase if it is to be something new for either house or farm. People are amazed when they see some of the things we've made and built from second-hand materials. Other people's throwaways. Oh, well, my immediate family (husband and kids) is happy, enjoy being 'weird', and we all agree that we are very fortunate.

Andrea
NZ

[moogie]

Yesterday we went to a town 40 km from home, and the friends we met up there just COULD NOT understand why we took the train although we have a car. *shrugs*

[the.fee.fairy]

I buy most of my clothes form charity shops, or Ebay...the reactions i get t work are amaxing! They range from 'oh, cool!' to 'so...your trousers...they're second hand...umm'.

I love my clothes!

[Helsbells]

This is a great thread, really making me laugh.

One of our friends who is a total clean freak, and "deep cleans" her house once a week made a face when I told her I had a allotment...like "you have a what now...with mud?"
She said "I dont know how you find the time" and I replied with "Well I dont wash my skirting board once a week"

[hamster]

...
She said "I dont know how you find the time" and I replied with "Well I dont wash my skirting board once a week"