DStilled

Candles, etiquette, bananas

Most anyone that has either come to my room or knows me for a while knows that I love candles. Mainly because it’s controlled fire, but also because of the wonderful smell that it coats my room with. I have discovered a great way to get more out of my candles. I use the candles that are in the glass jars but this will also work with less protected candles, but they have to be at least four inches wide. Light the wick and wait a few hours to when the liquid wax is a few milimeters deep. Blow the candle out and place a wooden match right next to it buried a centimeter or so. The next time you light the candle light the wick and the match and enjoy. Because wooden matches have small porous airholes like a cloth wick, the melted wax draws up to the fire and is burned as fuel just as though you had two wicks right next to each other. It’s a great way to get more heat and a bigger flame. The excess heat also allows all the wax to melt and burn as opposed to just what’s in the middle. Now remember kids to always be safe when handling fire and to cool off the matches before throwing them away. Have fun and enjoy!

For Social Psychology I had to do an experiment in my life. We had to break a social norm. The norm that I chose to break was urinal etiquette. Any guy that has ever used a urinal knows how awkward it can be when things get too close or a little chatty. Here is my experience:

I chose a restroom in a public library as the place of experimentation. Standing against the wall near the urinals, I waited until the room was empty. When someone came in by himself and started to approach the urinal, I engaged him in conversation. Not only was this awkward because I talked to him while he was trying to urinate, but just the idea of me waiting in the room was weird. When I tried to shake his hand, he looked unsure of whether he should do it or run away. He did not really say much and it was obvious he just wanted to ignore me. I tried to persevere and as he was washing his hands I told him the purpose of my actions. This greatly humored him as he said, “That’s one of those things that’s funny to other people ‘cause no one wants to feel awkward.”
The next person to come in gave me quite a surprise. He looked apprehensive to use the urinal since I was standing right there and he almost went to the stall. I made a movement as if I were finished and he continued toward the urinal. I said, “Hey, how are you doing today?” He gave me a look of complete puzzlement, as if I had asked the oddest question on earth. Without saying anything he pushed onward and at that moment his friend came in and they started talking in French. Stunned, I just left to not feel ridiculously awkward myself.
Later in the hour I went back and waited until the restroom was empty. A tall man walked in and as soon as I realized I was intimidated by him, I thought what a great way to break even more social norms. In conversation he smiled at me like I was mentally challenged student who was not even capable of tact. After tolerating the first couple of questions, he said in a reprimanding voice, “Dude, what are you doing?” I made sure to stand about a foot and a half away from him. I simply told him, “I find that human interaction is important for daily sanity.” After I patted him on his back while saying rhetorically, “You know what I mean?” I expected him to call me out on it (or punch me), but he did not even flinch. There was a lull in the conversation because he was not responding, so I just started talking about my day. It appeared as if he was going to forgo washing his hands for the more appealing route of leaving, but before he could open the door I told him of the experiment I was conducting.

I hope you all enjoyed that. Now make sure to stay regular by eating lots of bananas. For the comment question this time, what is the coolest way to peel a banana? And by the way, the stache is gone.