trying to live at Bag End

 Whenever I shop, whether it be for holiday or weekly groceries and sundries, the young minimum-wage customer service representative feels it his or her duty to stick my stuff in a bag.  “Paper or plastic” is the mantra of the young priests of consumerism. There is no option for carrying a bought item out of the store without carrying a bag. I bought a loaf of bread a 12-pack and a pack of cigarettes late last week at a local, out comes the damned bag.  The cigs go in my pocket, the beer is in a box and the bread is already in a bag.  What do I need another bloody bag for?  And yesterday I went to the big grocery store and bought $75 worth of stuff, enough for four grocery bags.  I moved on a tad, rearranged, and gave two of the bags back.  The attendent was either agape or aghast, I didn’t hang out to see which. I don’t see how that’s customer service, they’re just asking me to throw this thingie out for them.  The optimum solution, big in Whole Earth Stores and Southern California, is to bring one’s own reusable cloth bag.  That’s a great idea, and I have one or three of those at home, but there’s no way I can remember to take them along. I don’t usually go out on purpose to buy stuff.  I’ll drive by a supermarket and suddenly remember that I don’t have any peanut butter or whatever.  So, this is going nowhere.  My point is, think about what you’re buying y’all, you don’t necessarily need an extra bag.  And thank the young priest if s/he actually asks whether or not you need one.

Tags: ecology, green, grocery shopping