A question for older people. Have you improved?

a reply to: Bluesma

We are taught that we need to be competitive and climb the capitalistic pyramid to happiness.

When one person knows something or does something, you should always expect competitive responses.

It can be so bad that someone is prevented from learning anything new because they have become so competitive with their knowledge they might not accept anyone else's knowledge as greater. Their competitive nature inhibits their ability to learn.

I have been dealing with some of this lately at work. Hard to teach and old dog new tricks can be a true statement.

a reply to: droid56

I think I've always been ethical.

I find unethical behavior abhorrent.

Fine. I've been an ass. In my younger years and as I've gotten older. My "assitude" has just become more refined as I've aged.

a reply to: droid56


Hey Droid56.

Age is no guarantee that you or anyone else will improve. Years are just an opportunity to do so, whether someone does or not is largely up to them.

Guilt and shame can sometimes be a motivator for becoming a better person, maybe sometimes it's a necessary first step, at least it's often the first step; and most importantly, it appears to be yours. You see the ugliness of where you were, the way you were, you know from experience you're capable of ugliness. There is value in that. There are times when you'll want to glance back at this as a corrective to feelings of false pride and arrogance. Perhaps you'll want to glance at it when you're trying to help someone else who's caught where you once were.

But for now, maybe it's time to quit staring at it, the ugliness that was a part of your past. Consider that we all have a bit of ugliness in us and always will, but lets pull our gaze away from that as well for right now. I think your eyes need a break.

Look towards that which is beautiful, admirable, towards the person you want to become. Stare at that for awhile. Admire the beautiful, the good. Let the light chase away the darkness. Let beauty crowd out your memories of ugliness. Let it awe you and let it overwhelm you. Then take a step towards it. Follow it. Chase it.

After all; isn't it more likely for you to trip and fall if you're trying to walk forward while looking back over you shoulder? Won't you move more quickly towards your goals if you look in the direction you want to be traveling?

originally posted by: Indigent
I still steal the shampoo from the hotels even as i never use them

To be fair they expect you to use them they have been costed into the

price you pay ... so they are yours to use there or elsewhere.

a reply to: eletheia

Kinda sorta correct.

room amenties are costed based on assumptions. For example:

It could be assumed that the ratio of consumption to room nights would be something like:

1 shampoo for every 1.5 nights (a lot of folks bring their own stuff)
1 bar of soap for every night
1 body wash for every 2 nights (corporate travellers use bar soap for some reason)
1 lotion for every 5 nights
1 conditioner for every 4 nights

That would give you a starting point, then you can simply use historicals (once you operate for awhile) to determine consumption and layer that into a revenue forecast to determine purchase quantities.

That being said....hotels won't see it as theft. Unless you take it from the maid cart. It was put there for the use of the guest, with any unused product just being "breakage".

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan


I have stayed in a couple of hotels which have left a note to help yourself

to terry bathrobe and slippers......

I didnt.

a reply to: droid56

I will be 60 in a few months. Have I matured? I don't know. What I do know is that the range of things I'm willing to get physical with another person over has narrowed considerably -- pretty much to include only defense of myself or others. Insults? meh. Go tell the tree, I don't care.

I didn't come to be this person I am by accident; I built me brick by brick into the person I wanted to be. Am I more ethical than my younger self? It's possible, although I always had a sense of rules that I'd created for myself. I still let my own rules trump those of the law, if they come into conflict.

Listen, we ALL have things that we've done that we are ashamed of. I distrust the person who denies this. Not saying it's impossible, but I would guess extremely improbable. The thing is to learn from those events and apply them toward your future. In that sense, I'm not sorry, nor would I retract a single thing that happened in my past; all those memories and events led to the person I am today, and I'm comfortable with that guy. More important, my Darlin' loves that guy, and that makes it all worth it.

originally posted by: eletheia
a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan


I have stayed in a couple of hotels which have left a note to help yourself

to terry bathrobe and slippers......

I didnt.

LOL, at a triple digit cost, no doubt.

The worst, to me, are the ones that put stuff like water bottles in your room and charge you $5 apiece when you open the lid.

And, if im being really honest....its a dirty, dirty trick to stock a minibar with $3 packages of Reeses. Its like crack to me.

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan

originally posted by: eletheia
a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan


I have stayed in a couple of hotels which have left a note to help yourself

to terry bathrobe and slippers......

I didnt.

LOL, at a triple digit cost, no doubt.

It was an exquisite Hotel .... But It is surprising what you can get for your

money off the beaten track and outside of the Western world.

The worst, to me, are the ones that put stuff like water bottles in your room and charge you $5 apiece when you open the lid.
And, if im being really honest....its a dirty, dirty trick to stock a minibar with $3 packages of Reeses. Its like crack to me.

I never touch anything with out *compliments of the managements* labels.

originally posted by: droid56
When I say have you improved, I am asking whether you interact in a more ethical way than you used to do.
I don't want to say how I behaved in a somewhat shameful manner when I was younger, but it is true. I wish I could enter a time machine and erase what I did, but this is not possible.

When I think about what I did way back then, I know I wouldn't do the same today.

How to remove the shame? At least I am a better person today, but my guilt is still in my being.

Yes, indeed, I do. But, having said that, I started off ethical, then swayed (not too badly), then back on track. Experience is the best teacher.