I didn’t know what it would be like to live on a container ship.

It was just another “vehicle” that kept the world spinning smoothly….bringing the plastic thing from around the world so that another vehicle could bring the plastic thing to my local store….where eventually, after some more back room, low-wage wrangling, I’d get a chance to stand behind my children while they pressed all the buttons that say “press me”….and the toys came to life and filled the aisles with joy.

My understanding of the cycle of consumption was trying not to get too crazy listening to all the animatronic toys speak to me after another round of button pushing.

It was limited to trying not to go crazy.

Plastic stuff….moving across oceans….and….THERE ARE PEOPLE AND GIANT SHIPS MAKING IT ALL HAPPEN!!

WHO KNEW?!!

I know that you can buy a container to use for storage…or, if you’re really a trendsetter and a visionary, you can buy a bunch of them and turn them into a HOME!

That’s kind of wacky….turning a big metal box into a home…cutting holes for some windows….cutting holes for some doors.

These are some big metal boxes!! With big, heavy metal doors that lock with giant bars and levers.

And….there’s so many of them in the world….going back and forth across our oceans….carrying talking plastic toys and other more vital items…that we can buy these used containers cheaply.

The things that carry the disposable items that fuel our consumption….are just as disposable.

Weird.

Watching this video, I think that it’s kind of hard to put into context how big these metal boxes riding on the ship are.

I’ve unloaded some of them in my rich and varied career.

They’re big and hot inside in the summer….40 feet or so long…maybe 8 feet tall?

Look how tall they stack these things on the ship!

Crazy.

There is so much that I don’t know about.

Watching a video about container ships doesn’t really get me closer to knowing about things.

Maybe it helps me understand container ships a little bit…I guess.

It might be the Enya music talking….but it looks strangely….beautiful….to live on a container ship.

Who knows what it would be like to live on one of these ships, though. It can’t be all Enya and beauty all the time. Surely some of it is greasy and dangerous?

Only the folks who live and work on these big boats understand.

I’d only understand if I could swim a mile in their moccasins.

Man, we do love to consume, though.