One Red Paperclip

So, I'm sure we've all heard about Kyle MacDonald and his one red paperclip blog. He took one red paperclip and throughout a series of trades, he managed to get a house. The media ate this up and milked it for everything it was worth. Kyle became instantly famous for one unique idea.



No one traded with him because they wanted the actual paperclip or any of the other random junk he obtained, but rather they wanted to be part of the story. Each trade was documented by Kyle, and he has sold the movie rights to the story. They didn't just trade junk for junk, they trade junk for a chance to go down in history with very little effort. Everyone wants their 15 minutes of fame. Especially the small town of Kipling, Saskatchewan. They bought a house to trade with Kyle in hopes of shining in the limelinght. They hoped it would put their town on the map and perhaps increase population. It sure did for 15 minutes. The internet has an amazing ability to make otherwise unknown people and places popular. But it only lasts so long.

I don't believe that Kipling is any more well-known now than they were before. And if they are, it's only because of the red paper clip. So did they really accomplish anything??

The Older You Get.....The Cheaper You Get

I guess it's kind of an old saying and we all know it's true. The more birthdays you see, the more frugal you tend to be. I always just thought of it as a saying. But I'm now realizing it's completely true. It could probably be scientifically proven.

I got a phone call from my grandmother. She's urkranian so we call her Baba and we call my grandfather Gido. Of course the only reason she ever calls is to tell me someone has died. I usually don't care because I've never met my poor, distantly related dead family member. This week it was Aunt Margret with the mouth to the side. Needless to say, I wasn't exactly crushed. After an hour and a half of Baba explaining how Aunt Margret is related to me, she finally gets to the point and annouces her and Gido will be in the city tomorrow and would like to take me out for supper.

So the next day we meet at our local Smity's restaurant. If your over sixty and single, that is the place to be at four o'clock on a Wednesday afternoon. We eat supper and converse about this and that. I hear the story of how Baba removed her Christmas carols from her hymn book and made a separate book. (It's just not necessary to carry those with you all year round, you know.) Well the book was bound on the wrong side and someone was very upset about it.

We get through supper and move on to dessert. I notice how every last piece of their food is completely cleaned of their plates. Never mind the fact that they are stuffed and ready to explode. Nothing goes to waste. The desserts that came with their meals are half-eaten and then boxed up because "someone will eat them later." Even the hard crust from my apple pie made it's way into the box. "Put it in here. There's nothing wrong with that." I'm forced to eat the last bite despite my protests.

I begin to realize how spoiled I am. My Baba and Gido grew up in a world where they were never sure where the next meal was coming from. I'm soo blessed to not have to worry about those sort of things. But never the less, I'm still embarrassed when Baba snatches my plate back from the waitress and throws the left over fries in the take-out box. "They'll just throw them out!" Hey, I guess Baba did pay for them.

Moral of the story: Waste not, want not...Someone will eat it....

So...This is the first post of what is to be many, many posts. I'm going to dedicate this entire blog to my parents. Mainly because everyday when I came home from school, they would ask, "What did you learn today?" And I never had a good answer. I would simply say "Nothing" or "Not much." Little did I know I was breaking their hearts slowly but surely. So this is to prove to them that even though I didn't realize it then, I'm realizing it now, I learn fascinating things everyday of the week. Even though they will never see this...because I'll never show it to them, I'm now making up for all those meaningless answers when questioned with "What did you learn today?"