Saturday, January 22, 2005

It's us against them.




I went to the farmers market this morning to buy some fresh organic fruit. I love going to the farmers market, but I usually forget about it until Sunday morning, and it’s only open on Saturday.

So, I took my camera and thought maybe I’d take some pics of the lovely Montgomery Ward parking lot while I shopped. I got there a little late, so I picked up a cantaloupe and pear and headed to the check out. I had put the pear into a plastic bag, thinking I was going to buy several, so I felt a little silly having just one pear in a bag. As I sat my produce down on the table the woman reached for her roll of plastic grocery bags. “I don’t need a bag” I told her. She ignored me as she placed the cantaloupe into a bag. I said nothing. She then proceeded to take the pear – the one pear which was already in a plastic bag – and place IT into ANOTHER PLASTIC BAG! I almost lost it. “I DO NOT NEED ANOTHER BAG!” I said oh so politely. To which she replied, “Well I don’t want your pear to get smashed by the cantaloupe.” I was so irritated I left with out taking a picture.

I have come to the conclusion that the end of the world is going to come as a result of us all being buried alive under a massive blanket of plastic bags. For some reason people don’t feel like an item has actually been purchased unless it is placed inside a plastic bag. It’s maddening. And then of course, some people argue that they use the bags – that they’re handy to have around. Sure, a couple of plastic bags may be successfully utilized, but do we all need 10,000 of them? I suggest that the answer is no.

So I’m asking you all to join me in my war against the plastic bags. When you walk into a drug store to buy a tube of toothpaste and the cashier immediately begins to place it into a plastic bag – just say no.

The world will be a better place because of you.


1 comment:

  1. When I lived in Prague, they charged you a few cents for each bag you needed. That made it quite easy to start remembering to bring a bag from home.

    ReplyDelete