Two Random Questions & Eight Rules of Life

[hummingwolf]

Random Question One: I noticed just now that when referring to an enclosed collection of stores, I referred to it as a "shopping mall" rather than just a "mall," and I suspect I feel the need for clarification because I live so close to the National Mall, which has lots of monuments and museums but no Gap or Starbucks. Do any of the rest of you feel the need to say "shopping mall" instead of the simpler "mall"?

Random Question Two: When did stores stop selling colored toilet paper?

Rules To Live By: In this post yesterday, seraphimsigrist spoke about and asked about personal rules that people live by, like "Always order pecan pie when if is on a menu" or "Whenever possible, buy lemonade from kids' lemonade stands" or "Give money to beggars on Christmas Day at least." All the comments on the post make for interesting reading, but here are the first few of my own rules that came to mind:

1. If tea is on sale half-price, buy it.

2. Try to go for at least a short walk five days a week.

3. If someone says something which can be taken more than one way, choose to believe the least offensive meaning. People usually don't mean to offend anyway; and if they do, then one's absence of indignation can make them delightfully confused.

4. On LiveJournal, only use icons you enjoy looking at.

5. Say hello to people you pass by, and try to smile while doing it--but don't try to start long conversations with random strangers. Most people do have other things to do.

6. If you are passing by a library and it is possible to go inside, do so.

7. In agreement with someone else here: Always go to the bathroom before leaving home!

8. Don't assume someone else in the house will buy more toilet paper.

Comments

[paradigm-palace.livejournal.com]

You know, now that you've mentioned it I realize that I haven't seen any colored toilet paper in a while. I guess I didn't consciously notice the changes because I've always been adamant about buying the uncolored and unscented versions :)

By the way, I love rule #3.

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've been buying white, unscented toilet paper for a long time (though I might have bought pink or blue once sometime in the mid-'90s). It just occurred to me that, aside from the occasional all-natural brown variety in crunchy granola-type stores, I haven't had a choice about color in a long time.

Rule #3 is a very helpful one in everyday life. It's one I wish more people followed--it would stop a lot of pointless arguments. Rule #5 is also something I wish more people followed. Most people around here (my neighborhood, not LJ!) are great at smiling & saying hello, but not so good at recognizing that the fact that they have nothing in particular to do doesn't mean that nobody else is busy.

[paradigm-palace.livejournal.com]

Sometimes around here (where I live) if I just smile politely at someone they take it as an immediate indication that I want to converse with them at length. It drives me nuts when that happens because I usually end up feeling rude when I have to say, "I really have to be going". It's awkward, at best.

[pnksaph.livejournal.com]

We only have shopping malls, so they're just malls. Our only distinction is the local mall, with 15 or 20 little shops, or the big mall about 1/2 hour away.

I do the shopping at our house, so if there's no toilet paper I have no one to blame but myself. :-)

::loves my icon::
I haven't had a coke slurpee since I started my diet.

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

I figured that most people just say "mall," but thought I'd ask in case there are other weirdos out there. :-)

There used to be a housemate here who'd buy the TP for the whole house, so I had to get back into the habit of buying it myself once he moved out.

I haven't had any kind of Slurpee in years, which is silly since there are two 7-Elevens on my regular walking routes.

[coffeegrace.livejournal.com]

I just call them malls.

I'm pretty sure I saw some pink toilet paper recently... possibly at my gramma's house.

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

So pink toilet paper still exists? Interesting! Maybe they only sell it to Floridians. ;-)