the mixed up grocery bag adventure
Did I ever tell you about my grocery bag adventure (saga)? Well, it started out innocently enough, as most of my adventures do…
I go grocery shopping every week…and when the cashier at the checkout would give me a plastic bag, I would happily bring it home & reuse it as a trash bag, which I thought was the right thing to do!
One day, upon coming home, my dear friend & neighbor Tabasco (she was my very first friend upon arriving here on this Earth, & she has been my staunchest ally & best teacher of all matters earthly since then), spotted me. She said, “Clay Ball, WHAT are you doing with plastic bags???!!!!?????” I did not really know what she meant, so I explained to her that I went food shopping, & the nice lady had given me a plastic bag , so the groceries would not scatter & roll about in the bottom of my space kayak during the flight home…
Although Tabasco tried not to show it too much, I saw that familiar horrified/trying to be tactful look flitter across her face. She promptly went home and returned with the gift of a lovely, large, reusable shopping bag, with instructions to NEVER to accept those diabolical (though handy) plastic bags again.
“What’s so bad, about them, Tabasco?” I wondered.
Tabasco impressed upon me that the bags would be here long after our grandchildren were, & that they would be ensnaring unsuspecting animals & birds (and perhaps even clay balls) innocently going upon their daily business! Oh, I did not want that to happen!
Then, in one of those peculiar coincidences that seem to punctuate my life with surprising frequency, I looked up to see an animal indeed trapped in a plastic bag, which appeared to be wound tightly around his shoulders & flapping madly in the breeze!
WOW!
It was none other than Marcus Wolf, that adventuresome and somewhat mischievous teen wolf who had been staying in our neighborhood for the last couple of months….My children were with him, & it looked like there was some kind of big commotion going on…Oh dear, Marcus, don’t worry, help is on the way!
I rushed over to rescue him from the fiendish plastic bag (which perhaps, who knows, I had carelessly released into the ecosystem earlier on, before knowing any better), but before I could remove it, Marcus explained to me in a dignified but somewhat peeved tone that he was, in fact, a Superhero Wolf today, and would I please unhand his cape….as he & his posse were on an extremely delicate mission to save the world…
And then he stiffly marched off, with his indignant & faithful entourage of junior superhero assistants behind him…
You know, it was turning into one of those days when I wonder if it’s me, or if it is actually everyone else…
Anyway, to make a long story short, from that moment forth, I have used only my beautiful blue & orange grocery bag for all my shopping needs…
…but soon ran into another problem. I had no trash bags anymore!
Well, wouldn’t you know, Tabasco had this all figured out already…
She got me these Biobag biodegradable 3-gallon kitchen bags! I haven’t tried them for very long yet, as she just got them for me, but so far, so good!
They feel like soft plastic bags…and you know what else, because I got them in a smallish size, when I go grocery shopping, I noticed I am looking for things with less packaging nowadays, so they won’t use up my precious BioBags. They come to about 16 cents a bag, which is quite a bit in my book….
…but Tabasco looked at me quite sternly when I said that, & said, “Clay Ball, you are a visitor here on Earth, & you should certainly leave the Earth no worse off than you found it!” She’s a tough cookie, that Tabasco, but she is right once again!
Well, I hope you have a kind & bossy friend like Tabasco, too!
love,
Clay Ball
p.s. If you have used any other bags that you recommend & which are perhaps more economical, please let me know! I would love to hear about your experiences! love, CB
