Moral Quandary

So my kid's school takes pictures twice a year. Fall ones are pretty typical; they send 2 proofs and an envelope with choice of packages, which they'll print up on demand & sell you.

Spring pictures are a whole different animal. They take the picture, even if the kid says, "I don't want my picture taken, my Mom doesn't want any" as mine did. Then they send you an 8x10, 3 - 5x7s, 10 wallet-sized, and a whole sheet of bookmarks, guitar pics and other assorted plastic punch-outs, cheerily printed with the school year and little cutesy backgrounds.

They send you all these photos, then they say pay $12 a sheet for the ones you want, and send the rest back.
AND SEND THE REST BACK.

Why, exactly? They've already printed them, it's not like they're gonna lick the ink off and reuse the paper. And though she's a pretty cute kid, i don't think they'll want to hang her picture in their homes...They've put the same investment into making them, whether I buy all of them or none of them. ($12 a sheet is ridiculous btw. Fundraiser pricing, the money goes to the school)

It's a ridiculous business model. I'm not going to pay outrageous prices for something I didn't want in the first place.

I was supposed to decide & return them last week, but haven't, cuz I'm slack like that. I'm tempted to call and say the cat ate them or the dog lost them, but I'd really like to help out, even though I'm not going to give them any money. I could offer them some of these OTHER pictures of my kid, would they like those? Not that I'd actually give them any. I'm not giving pics of my kid to somebody who's just going to run them through a shredder! That gives me the heebedy-jeebies just thinking about it.

Also, I'm a bit offended by the wastefulness of it. Photo chemicals ain't made of kitten giggles and rainwater, after all. Those unwanted pics have to go somewhere; all the energy used to produce them had to come from somewhere.
Is it my capitalistic duty to try to bankrupt these fools?
Is it my moral obligation to return their goods to them, though they hold absolutely no value?

Discuss.
I know I'm supposed to do the right thing, but remind me why, OK?



* I actually gave the kid a check to cover the page of bookmarks etc cuz they're cute and she likes to swap them with her friends, and sent the rest of it back. But I also took a decent close-up of the 8x10 with my camera ; )

life theory & ground rules

=+<(%{ SHIT HAPPENS }%)>+=

this is a durable, widely applicable concept. I enjoy it obviously for the profanity, and because it addresses the inevitability that Everybody Poops.
Butt the far-reaching beauty of it is how it frees the soul from Drama.

Bad things happen, and it's nobody's fault*, LET IT GO.
Making others responsible for every awful life experience makes it *LESS* easy to process & heal from, and keeps my monkeybrain churning with all kinds of negativity. NOBODY IS ABLE TO RUIN MY LIFE WITHOUT MY PERMISSION.
*even if it is somebody's fault, if it's not worth the trouble of breaking their kneecaps, or worth the expense of hiring someone to do it, it's just not worth worrying about.

And the evil twin to "it's somebody else's fault", is that every joy that happens, is somebody else's responsibility. I've felt the weight of that, and don't wish it on another soul. I can be happy without hanging my expectations on anybody. NOBODY IS RESPONSIBLE FOR MY HAPPINESS OR MENTAL HEALTH BUT ME.

I WILL NOT TAKE PART IN *ANY* RELATIONSHIP THAT REQUIRES ME TO DEFEND MYSELF.
I can defend my point of view all day long, for fun or mental exercise. Or i can just drop it, if it's not worth the trouble, or agree to disagree.
I've been at a point where i needed to pick a fight, any fight, just so i could win. I've welcomed Anger because it made me feel powerful, like a quasar blasting waves of rage, like i could *MAKE* people feel what i was going through. I've stood in the yard screaming AH HAY CHOO, YEW BASSTERD. It didn't do any good, just sucked energy away from my life.
I've been there. I'm not going back. There is nothing there that I want or need.

THERE IS *NO* PLACE IN MY LIFE FOR THE SILENT TREATMENT. I've been on both ends of it, and SERIOUSLY. It is not a worthy behavior for any situation I care to be in. It solves nothing, it presumes control in place of communication. Interactions with fellow humans will be based on the premise that my intentions are good. Apologies will be offered freely for real or perceived slights, but not in laundry-list form in hopes of guessing the problem. I'm not going to slog through anybody's psychodrama just for the privilege of explaining myself.

I WILL NOT FEED THE DRAMA MONSTER. I refuse to redirect one particle of energy from any aspect of my life. There may well be a gold watch at the bottom of that sewer, but I'm sure as Hell not jumping in.


Probably a rather dull read, but i've just turned 30 and am still sorting these things out. *results not typical, your mileage may vary* #thatisall