Day 2
I am convinced that major supermarkets have brain erasers at the entry doors. We stopped by Foodland today for a couple of things, and upon walking in and being dazzled by all the pretty, shiny foodstuffs all around, I completely forgot I was withdrawing from plastic. Like any good junkie, sense went out the window and it wasn’t until I was in the checkout line that I realized that I had relapsed.
I looked at Sean and said, “Oh no. There’s plastic here. I want to go back and try to find these things without plastic.” Well, we were both tired and Sean, though he is supportive, seems to be fed up already with this experiment. Poor guy. And we’ve still got 363 days to go.
So, I had the cashier pack up green onions that had a narrow plastic label around them, a plastic-wrapped piece of watermelon, a papaya that had a plastic “Molokai Hawaii” sticker affixed to its mottled side and a tomato that had a similar plastic sticker boasting that the fruit was organic. I have thought all this time that those labels were made of paper. Tonight is the first time I tried to tear one in half and discovered I couldn’t.
Additionally, the fresh salsa in a plastic container (I re-use those constantly though, but still it’s a no-no right now) and the tortillas were in a plastic Ziploc bag.
But it wasn’t until I hit the freezer aisle that things got ugly. There I was, standing in front of the Haagen Daz freezer, blankly staring at the sugary confections like a derelict at a grade B porn film. I saw that they were on sale, two for $5, and unconsciously gave into my plastic addiction, extracting pints of Butter Pecan and Rocky Road.
When I got to the checkout and realized that I hadn’t even TRIED to not buy plastic, I was mortified by my actions. This really goes to show just how we, like the Coneheads, unthinkingly and habitually consume mass quantities (of plastic, in this case). We take for granted that this is “just the way things are,” and we might as well not even try to change things because we are in our comfort zone with things just as they are.
Well dammit, I’m committed to this 12 or 13 or 14-step program, and I’m now more resolute than ever to do this. I’m not going to beat myself up too much, because in the beginning it’s easy to forget that you’re supposed to be on the wagon. So, hang in there with me. Things will get easier as time goes on.
Aloha,
Josey