Thursday, October 19, 2006

Assumptions!! Challenge them before it's too late! I missed 2 meetings today. 1) Bus delay 2) Wrong building!!!

Monday, January 16, 2006

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself

So I was going to buy a printer today. It was in stock. Now, it's out of stock. What to do.

Well, when it was in stock, I hesitated to get it because I wasn't sure whether it was worthwhile. Do I have the kind of money to spend on that printer? It was only 50 bucks, but I already had 2 inkjet printers that just were either crappy or were out of ink. We have a total of 6 or 7 inkjets but I wanted a laser because they output more professional-looking prints faster and more efficiently. Plus, you can hold them to your body for warmth.

The problem with inkjets is that they run out of ink whether you use them or not. They dry out. They cost so much per page, who cares if they're color. Plus, you just know you're getting screwed with everyone making cartidges smaller and smaller. And the frustrations!!! See previous post.

Anyhow, I delayed because I was afraid my roommate would use it quite liberally because he prints stuff all the time on his printer and I know he has quite a casual attitude towards conservation. In general, this can be related to my fear of "using" people. I don't like oweing people money. I don't like asking people for favors. I don't mind helping other people, but I'm painfully aware that if you like helping people out but don't like asking for favors, then you're going to end up with a disequilibrium. Ideally, in a trusting long-term relationship, you can give and take. But I guess since learning that people don't always anticipate what you need but are likely to help you, you have to ask. In the case of my roommate, I hesitate to say, eat his pop-tarts or cold cuts, because I don't want to owe him anything as my sense of obligation would cause me to overcompensate. I wouldn't be in an absolute state of oweing him nothing. So, consequently, knowing that I owed him nothing and that if anything, he owed all of us (as chores go), I didn't want him to exercise his liberal usage of resources on my printer.

See, the problem stems from me not exercising the reciprocity to return the equilibrium to a level I could more tolerate. And, the isn't going to be a noticeable point. Just a back and forth where overall, there is a balance. Eh.. Maybe this will help me make decisions in the future. Being taken advantage and taking advantage of people (with none of it's connotations). Quid pro quo... I guess we join society for a reason.