Tomtitium

It's insidious—this widespread idea that average people are too greedy, and that's what fuels climate change and pollution. Not greedy companies.

"Consumers shop for clothes to stay on-trend and throw away perfectly good old clothes." "Consumers only wear clothes a few times before throwing them away." "A huge amount of landfill waste comes from clothing that consumers throw out." "Consumers replace their wardrobes arbitrarily to stay on-trend." "Consumer demand for 'fast fashion' is rising spite of the environmental impacts."

Statements like this make it sound like regular people want to buy and waste vast amounts of resources, and normal people's unchecked addiction to shopping is causing environmental devastation. It's horribly misleading when products are being deliberately designed to break or wear out within one or two years and to be impossible to repair.

Instead of "Americans are buying way more clothes than they did 20 years ago, causing lots of landfill waste!"

According to the smithsonianmag.com, the world’s oldest bristlecone pine was a nearly 5,000 year old tree later named Prometheus. In 1964, a man named Donald Rusk Currey decided to use an increment borer to determine its age (a process that cuts a small hole into the center of the tree trunk, and is not intended to kill the tree). Unfortunately, the borer got stuck. He and a park ranger cut the tree down to remove the equipment, and when they counted the tree rings, they realized their mistake. Oops. This incident lead to better protection of the remaining bristlecone pines.

There’s some wiggle room about what can be called “the world’s oldest living tree.” The world’s oldest living single tree is the tree that the OP is referring to. Its name is Methuselah,and it is also around 5,000 years old. Since its location is unknown, nobody knows what it looks like. But it might be this tree here:

But technically, it isn’t the oldest living tree. Let me explain.

It turns out that root systems of trees can send up genetically identical saplings (aka clones) via their root systems. Like so:

Which means the original trunk can die, but since the root system is attached to other trees which give it nutrients, it lives on. The root system can theoretically do this indefinitely. So the tree trunks could be fairly young, but the roots could be large and very, very, very old. So the oldest “tree” isn’t a small grove, it’s a logic-defying forest.

I’d like you to meet Pando.

This male quaking aspen covers 106 acres and is ancient. I’m talking an estimate of 80,000 years. The trees you can see are just “shoots” he sent up, and their average age is 130 years old. He is his own forest. If trees could talk, I’d love to hear what he had to say.

He might be dying, due to insects and drought (hmm, wonder what could have happened to cause that). A section of Pando is being studied in an attempt to find a solution. But in the meantime, we can enjoy him for his beauty.

When a lady stopped me gently to whisper that i had “mastered the art of kindness”

When an elderly woman told me i was “put on earth to be a flight attendant”

Each and every time someone complimented my nails

When i found an $8000 diamond watch left behind under a seat, gave it to a gate agent, only to have the passenger come running back 10 minutes later. Gate agent: man u wouldve been in trouble, huh? Man whom looked like a bond villain: i wouldve been SHOT.

Every lesbian ive worked with and had the nice bonding moment of “ur gay?? Im gay!!”

That time a man tried to get huffy with me because he wasnt in 1st class and i got to say “sir u can either sit in this seat or u can sit in a seat in the terminal while u wait to take the next flight”

When i had an emergency landing because the pilots lost steering and we all thought we were gonna die but then we didn’t and everyone just applauded the landing and didnt even complain about the 2 hour delay

When my flight was delayed for 3 hours because the plane wouldnt start so the crew and i just took a really long nap in the jetway

Every 4 and 5 star hotel ive stayed at for free

When we overnighted in the middle of nowhere in alabama and went to a sports bar at midnight. The bartender locked the door so it was just him and us and his friend, and we all got super drunk on obscure alcohols and i kicked everyones ass at pool

That time i had an emergency landing because one pilot had such explosive diarrhea that the other 2 pilots had to wear oxygen masks

When we overnighted in a casino resort in new orleans and ended up drunk on margaritas and playing blackjack with a bunch of old people at 2pm

Every little kid on my flights

Every dog i got to pet on my flights

When we were flying to nyc during julliard recruitments and half the seats were taken up by cellos

Being in airports late at night and seeing people sleep in the weirdest places because they just dont care (bathroom floors, under gate agent desks, etc)

When a woman forgot her actual baby on the plane

Woman: can i board first? Gate agent: are u special needs, active military or priority? Woman: no i just want to board first. Gate agent: maam i have 70 other people who also want to board first, im not looking for a line leader.

The old woman on my plane who saw a teenager was having a panic attack and immediately moved to sit with her and brought her so much comfort she was able to fall asleep

Working a flight with only 4 passengers so we all played Cards Against Humanity

Everyone who has very gently said “Stay safe” rather than “Goodbye”

Complimenting passengers’ fun masks and being complimented in return

The anxiety service dogs at the Philly airport wearing vests that say Stress Relief

The little girl in the airport who begged me to french braid her hair like mine (and her very apologetic mother)

The barista at the airport cafe who gave me free lattes every week for two months because I always came by around closing time

The beachside resort my FA and I got stuck at in key west for 3 days around my birthday because of a hurricane. If you’re gonna get stuck somewhere because of a hurricane, it might as well be a beachside resort with bottomless margaritas

Each time I reunited with a flight attendant/pilot friend in an airport or at a hotel or on an airplane. It always feels like a little gift

Speaking of gifts, every passenger that has ever given me anything but especially the man that brought freshly made muffins from his bakery for the crew last month, they were divine

The flight attendant I worked with on Halloween who watched a horror movie marathon with me at the hotel even though he was terrified of scary movies

Every aircraft cleaner

Every hotel cleaner

Every unaccompanied minor on my flights, who always make me feel like a temporary big sister

The time my roommate (also a flight attendant) got a flat tire while in the airport parking garage and no less than 3 different pilots stopped to help us change it

Flight crew game nights in our hotel rooms

The beach overnight on the last day of summer when my pilot and I (drunkenly) decided to go swimming in the ocean at midnight

The flight attendant who approached me in a hotel lobby and said we had flown together two years earlier, just after she’d been hired, and she’d wanted to fly with me again ever since

The nurse on my flight who, when the passenger beside her began seizing, leapt into action and saved her life

The tween girl who wanted to be a flight attendant and had us quiz her on airport codes (she got every single one correct 😳)

All the flight crew members who regularly help me steal supplies from the aircrafts (gloves, masks, water bottles, sani wipes etc) to bring to Philly’s homeless camps and protesters

We live under capitalism and its rule seems inescapable. I’m eager for the days when covid is just a bad memory, and the quality of and access to healthcare is such that, come the next virus, no one has to choose between paying rent or paying a hospital bill. I’m eager for the days when rent and paychecks are a thing of the past, when we work for the pleasure of working, without the pressure of being born into a world run by money and the men who control it.

In the meantime, all we have is each other, and I’ve been very lucky to have spent my time with so many generous, soft-handed people who have made this year not only bearable, but often enjoyable in spite of the rest. I have been very lucky to work a job that I (mostly) love, even if it is part of an industry that cares only for numbers, not people.