My Own Little Hole In The Ozone

I made a quick run to the local grocery store the other day to pick up a few items that we had forgot in our last big store run. Actually, we can't seem to go a day without going back to pick up something we forgot, but being brain dead is a post for another day ( if I remember to post about it).

So with my few items in hand I went through the regular line instead of the express or self check because it wasn't busy and the nice lady I know was waiting for somebody to check out. I have know this checker for a long time, she always says hi to Skyler and her kids went to the same school.

So as I got out my card to pay the new young chick who was bagging asked if I had my own bags. I said no, plastic would be fine. Then she asked if I would prefer a paper bag, to which I answered no, we use the plastic bags at home.

(side note to everyone out there, we use the plastic bags for Skylers diapers. I know that they are bad, but a weeks worth of crappy adult diapers in the can outside would cause the neighbors to assemble with pitchforks and torches)

So anywhodles, that was twice I answered no and asked for plastic. This is when the young eco-nazi sprung into action to attempt to educate me in my nefarious ways. She proceded to let me know all the harm the plastic bags do to the environment (I know) and then the kicker came... "And YOUR generation are the ones screwing things up for the rest of us"!

My first instinct was to grab her by her nose ring and pull her the wrong way along the conveyor belt, but I stayed calm. My friend the checker was turning to tell her (I presume) to shut up and do her job, but I said that's OK, she is right. They are bad for the environment. So I started to tell her what I use them for, and that I do a lot of other things to try and help the planet, hoping that maybe she could see that sometimes life isn't so black and white.

She interrupted me in the middle of my explanation to tell me that there is no acceptable reason to use a plastic bag.

I was kind of ready for this by now, so I told her that she seemed like somebody who truly cares about the environment, and I respect that. I told her I would make a deal with her (voice raising) if you come over to my house and change my sons diaper for one week, just one damn week, I would commit to never using a plastic bag again.

Store manager approaches as my checker friend is giggling to her self and the eco-nazi bag girl gets pulled away, and end scene. I never got her answer, just a stare.

So I have been going over this in my head since then, and I drive a fuel efficient car, don't waste water, and always recycle everything I can.

Am I such a horrible person for using plastic bags?

Comments

  1. Eff's sake, this sort of thing drives me BANANAS. People poking their nose into other people's business. Especially, when you explain WHY you need the plastic. The older I get, the less tolerant I am of people like that chick and the more I am likely to tell them where to stick their ideas. I'm less diplomatic than you, clearly. I'd be incensed. Besides, I'll just bet she does SOMETHING in her life that isn't environmentally friendly. Does she buy only foods with packaging that doesn't pollute or exceed necessary amounts? GAH. I'm all worked up now on your behalf. Of course it's good to protect the environment, but if you're going to get up in my face over one thing like plastic bags, you better be 100% environmentally friendly yourself and I just bet almost no one is. Well done on not pulling her by the nose ring though. I'm not sure I'd have managed. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes.

    You should be using something far more eco-friendly. Try using the skin of a baby seal instead. They decompose readily, and you get the bonus of fresh seal meat to feed your pet orca.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I would have told her to MIND HER OWN FUCKING BUSINESS.

    Is that wrong?

    Seriously, you rock.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm not the most environmentally consious person on the planet. We get the plastic bags most of the time, and we don't have a legitimate use for them.

    Luckily, I live in a city where we are fighting the EPA. See, we are the last city in the country to not fully disinfect out waste water before pumping it into the river. The river has steep banks, see, and encouraging people to swim in it would lead to more people drowning.

    Our bar is so damn low, even Jenk's idear would fly.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I would've run over the bitch. lol! I hate condescending people. Especially the younger generation who toss their cell phones every 2 years because they want the latest model.

    Disability ain't pretty and there ARE exceptions to every rule.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Nope, not a horrible person...we use the bags for icky jobs as well. I would have told the twit to shut up and leave me alone, and then reported her to corporate.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Of course you're not a horrible person. She's just a nosy d-bag who doesn't know when to let a thing go.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous3:25 PM

    I'd call her a callow youth, but something tells me age and experience will not change the fact that she seems to be a fucking idiot.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I hate to disagree with everyone, but Checker-Chick was right. Using plastic bags, ever, is indefensible.

    From now on, do this instead:
    1) Wrap each diaper in recycled, unbleached, soy-inked newsprint.
    2) Place each wrapped diaper in an air-tight container large enough to hold a full week's worth.
    3) When said container is full, head down to the grocery at a time you know she's working.
    4) Dump them in her car.

    From there, she can figure out how to dispose of them.

    ReplyDelete
  10. LOL, I take mine back...I agree with Jeanne...I've been converted!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Holy moly what a judgmental bitch.

    Paper isn't necessarily better than plastic, either, particularly if it's not recycled paper. How many old-growth forests are chopped down to make those paper bags, anyway?

    And let's not even discuss the amount of resources that would be wasted if you wrapped every diaper in a cloth bag instead of plastic.

    That chick needs to learn to keep her mouth shut.

    If I were her boss, I'd have fired her.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I always try to love people despite the stupid things they sometimes do and this girl deserves no less. If I saw her I would give her a great big hug and hold her arms really tight while someone else tied one of those plastic bags over her head. In a loving manner of course.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Wow. That was sooo not her job in any way, shape or form. I hate judgers.

    ReplyDelete
  14. No, no and NO your not wrong. You do reuse and that is what conserving is based on. I know what adult diapers are like. And how much they can fill up. Not the same as a lil one, no way, no how. Also...the flies that are drawn to them is a health hazard. So kuddos for not tossing them in the can unwrapped!

    Yeah she would have been less one nose ring from me!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I use mine for dog poop and I couldnt imagine a substitute. Plow ahead with your plastic bags, my friend! Be proud of your plastic bags!

    ReplyDelete
  16. You could also ask nosering if the store provides 'green' biodegradable plastic bags, and if not, why? In the meantime, shut up! I have to use them too, even though I own a pile of cloth grocery bags, because I have cats and need something to put the litter in. I have a limited selection of litters, and I have no place to dispose of it but the garbage. I also live in a place where garbage gleaners are common and will not put animal feces or glass or other hazardous materials in the garbage loose. Each of us should do what we can to protect the earth, but each of us cannot be expected to do it all... and militant attitudes like that do more to drive people AWAY from green practices, than to convince folk to just do what they reasonably can.

    (and now, how do I get the image of someone being yanked across one of those scanner things, down the conveyor belt, and bagged, out of my mind?? I'm going to be snickering all night!)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Oh good lord, a know-it-all cashier. They are the bane of humanity.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Photo Challenge, Day 8. The final day.

Handicapped Assessable