Substitutes

Americans love substitutes. We accept them, we create them, and we approve of them. Our national economy thrives on them. Even our national security depends on them. Our daily lives are influenced by substitutes from the time we wake up in the morning to when we go to sleep at night. We even have a substitute for time called daylight saving time. Our language is full of substitutes. We shorten words to the barest minimum of characters which can still give meaning to our thoughts. Thx, ok, ty, ttfn, wtg are examples. We substitute nick names for real ones. We often use letters of the alphabet as a substitute for names of people such as FDR and OJ or grocery stores called H.E.B. Our government uses abbreviated words and letters to denote agencies.

We have even found a way to substitute some foods for the real thing. Splenda is a substitute for sugar. Canola oil is a chemical substitution for some oils. We patronize restaurants that give substitute choices for things on their menus.

Substitute teachers are part of our education system. We are constantly in search of new ways to substitute money. We went from substituting paper for coins to banking with checks, then graduated to plastic and currently we are attempting to substitute online services to replace the tangible substitutes in use now.

Our clothing is comprised of synthetics which are substitutes for wool, cotton and silk. Vinyl replaces leather. Our residences are partially built and decorated with synthetic woods and stones. Television and radio have substitute hosts. Pharmacies often substitute one medicine for another. The National Guard is a substitution used to augment the army. Injured soldiers are given substitute arms and legs to replace those lost. Doctors routinely transplant substituted organs for defective ones. We keep ourselves comfortable in substituted climates of heating and air conditioning.

Undoubtedly there are many more examples but these are just a few that crossed my mind when I watched a television commercial for Capital One credit card. It’s really amazing that we are so unaware of how the culture of our time is developing or that rules of American society are predicated on substitutions.

See Internet abbreviations at:
http://www.pulpchat.com/faq/faq215.php
See Government Acronyms at:
http://www.ulib.iupui.edu/subjectareas/gov/docs_abbrev.html
See Ingredient Substitutions at:
http://www.e-cookbooks.net/ingresub.htm
See a document listing Drug Substitutions at:
www.wiba.org/pdf/insurance/prescription/2006_formulary_list.pdf