Shrink Wrap and the Shrimp Scampi Principle
Great band name, huh.
On a similar note, one of my acquisitions from a recent visit to a brick-and-mortar record shop was a 1977 vinyl pressing of Muddy Waters' album Hard Again. I snatched it off the rack as soon as I recognized the cover; it was a no-brainer in my book.
What I didn't notice until I'd returned home was that the album still possessed the original plastic shrink wrap; whoever had owned this previously had simply sliced the side open to remove the record, but otherwise left the wrapping intact. Although it had wrinkled with time, it still held the hype stickers announcing that Waters was performing with Johnny Winter and James Cotton on this album. Clearly, the cover had not been re-wrapped.
At this point, I realize I have something of a dilemma. This shrink wrap has, against all odds, survived nearly fifty years. This piece of plastic now has some semblance of value, even if it's small. A collector would fight to preserve this.
On the other hand, I dislike shrink wrap and I don't want it on my albums. This one in particular is already worn and wrinkled, storing it on the shelf with my other albums is only going to make it worse over time, and overall it just makes the album cover less visually appealing should I choose to display it. Also, my cat will chew up crinkly plastic and eat it if I so much as drop my guard for two seconds.
So I tore the wrapping off and tossed it. Again, to some people, this act is going to sound like an unforgivable sin, which is why doing so gave me that much pause. But at the end of the day... we're talking about a scrap of plastic that was only ever meant to keep the record, its sleeve, and its cover protected and in one piece until it reached somebody's house. That's it. I shouldn't have to feel guilty about this. Unlike the inner sleeve, it serves no more function now that the album sits on my shelf; and unlike the music and the cover, it was never intended to be art, never intended to be absorbed and critiqued and enjoyed. This two-bit blog post is a greater legacy than it ever could have aspired to.
My point is, if you're the kind of person that would have done everything in your power to ensure the safety of this shrink wrap while it remained in your hands, good on you. You're a stronger person than me. But there's a fine line to walk here, too, I think, where it becomes easy to see your efforts to preserve and protect as something of an obligation. Which, likewise, becomes easy to impose onto others. But you have to be okay with the fact that, once you pass that album on to me, I might just throw that shrink wrap away. Because, again... big deal. Now if I, say, immediately smashed the record on the ground or drew a curly mustache in Sharpie directly underneath Muddy Waters' nose or something like that, and you wanted to get mad at me, then... I mean, there's really still not much you can do, but I at least agree there's something to be upset over.
I guess this to say, remember to take some time now and again to reflect on what's important to you, why it's important, and why it might not be to somebody else. We tend to forget this last one.
Also, like, y'all need to have some awareness of what you're putting your life's effort into. This is something I've been thinking about for a few months, ever since I saw a billboard along the highway, advertising a local casino. Specifically, they were advertising the shrimp scampi that was one of the meals being offered at said casino.
I will grant that I have never been in a casino, and I cannot truthfully vouch for the quality of the food that is served as such establishments. However, it is my understanding that dinner is not really one of the primary motivators for visiting a casino. Certainly, the shrimp scampi billboard was not enough to tempt me; I don't even really recall it making me hungry for shrimp scampi in general. And ultimately, the billboard was gone within a week, replaced with a focus on some other aspect of the venue.
In that second-and-a-half where the billboard momentarily wrests control of our attention, we forget the work that was involved getting it there. A business team that recognized the need for and developed an advertising strategy, a marketing team that designed the billboard, the folks at the billboard company actually had to get the imagery in front of all those cars. Real money changed hands here, real time was invested.
All to advertise shrimp scampi for a casino.
This was one of those moments where somebody really needed to ask "What am I doing with my life?", because I find it difficult to believe that the shrimp scampi billboard brought any sort of meaningful change into the world. I'm certain it didn't bring an influx of individuals into a casino, I'll tell you that much. The best I could hope to suggest is that it provided gainful employment at the expense of a business whose money-making model, to some extent, relies upon manipulating people who may be vulnerable to addiction, so like, maybe that was a net positive in the end. Maybe I've hit upon an underground, anti-capitalist movement calling itself the Shrimp Scampi Resistance and haven't realized it.
More than likely, however, people got so involved in the "doing" that they forgot to ask themselves the "why". As in, "why am I working so hard advertising shrimp scampi for a casino". I'm calling this Skep's Shrimp Scampi Principle, and I think it's a question worth asking yourself from time to time. Humanity has long struggled to find meaning and fulfillment in life, and I certainly don't have any answers, but I can guarantee that being mindful of the Shrimp Scampi Principle will, at least, help keep you from going mad, which is the best that any of us can really hope for in the end.
Anyway, those are two somewhat congruent experiences I've had on my mind lately that I was almost able to combine into a cohesive thought. As for what's important to me personally, this afternoon it's going to be sitting out in the sunshine and sipping mojitos. I recognize that this doesn't provide any noteworthy insights on our existence, but also, when you're relaxing in the warm sun with a cool beverage, you kinda stop caring. Just something to consider.