Penguin on parade
"I spent a year at the South Pole. Everyone always wanted to know if we saw penguins and obviously we didn't as we were in the interior of the continent. Well, the time comes to go and we have a stopover in McMurdo Station. We head out to Pegasus Field airstrip which is out on the thick permanent glacial ice. A C-17 lands to pick us up and we are literally 15 minutes from leaving the continent, when someone suddenly shouts, 'Look a penguin!' We all turn to them like yeah, right ... Then we see a single Adele penguin hauling ass down the runway towards us. It walked right up to us and hung out with us until we left." (Source: reddit.com)
Inconspicuous consumers
In The Sum of Small Things: A Theory of the Aspirational Class, sociologist Elizabeth Currid-Halkett says the "Aspirationals" - the group that she sees as the new elite - are moving away from conspicuous consumption, now that everyone can buy anything online, in favour of a more inconspicuous consumption. The book's webpage describes the new wealthy as: "Highly educated and defined by cultural capital rather than income bracket, these individuals earnestly buy organic, carry NPR tote bags, and breastfeed their babies. They care about discreet, inconspicuous consumption - like eating free-range chicken and heirloom tomatoes, wearing organic cotton shirts and TOMS shoes, and listening to the Serial podcast. They use their purchasing power to hire nannies and housekeepers, to cultivate their children's growth, and to practise yoga and Pilates."
