Hanging…without a Thread

I’m trying to be a good Earth citizen.

The recycle grocery bags aren’t too much of a problem at regular grocery stores. I know they’re not as easy to fill as the plastic kind, but I try to help out with the bagging, to speed things along. At Target, I hold the recycle Target bags open as the checkers scan and fill them. At Wal-Mart, it’s a different story.

At Wal-Mart, the checkout system is designed to speed items through the scanning process and into bags, which are suspended on a turntable sort of apparatus. The checker scans items, quickly puts them in a bag, then swivels it away to bring another empty bag right by the conveyor belt. After a couple of swivels, the filled bags are moved right to the customers, who themselves place the bags in their carts. It is very efficient. For those lightweight plastic bags. Not for the recycle bags.

I try to be very sensitive to this problem I create, this attempting to be environmentally responsible. I usually go early (but not always), so there won’t be such long lines at the checkouts. I work with the checker, putting my own bags on the prongs that hold the plastic bags, to make it easy for checkers to drop my items in the bags (that works sometimes). I put my insulated bag on the conveyor belt first and then my cold items right behind it, to help the checker be organized (and get all my cold things together). And I will absolutely say that no checker at Wal-Mart has ever, ever acted as though any of this is bothersome, inconvenient, or annoying.

Therefore, I was surprised when a Wal-Mart checker recently expressed some thinly veiled dismay at my red, insulated bag, which has a large HEB logo on it.

“What?!?!?” she said. “An HEB bag here in my Wal-Mart?!?!?” (I think she was kidding, a little bit.)

“Well,” I answered. “I have HEB bags, but here I am at Wal-Mart, shopping. You should be happy about it.”

“Oh,” she said, thinking it over.

“Just imagine what good publicity it is,” I went on. “When people see that I’m bringing my HEB bags to Wal-Mart for groceries, they might think they should do that, too.”

“I guess you’re right,” she said, beginning to put the butter and yogurt and lettuce in the insulated bag.

The truth is, I shop pretty equally at both places, depending on prices and coupons and availability of what specific things I’m looking for. And, one of the stores is closer to my home. And one reads my coupons better and faster (because believe me, there aren’t many more hostile stares than the ones I get when a checker has to repeatedly scan a coupon over a reluctant scanner!) And some coupons are store-specific. And sometimes, when I’m completely worn out and need just milk, I go to Walgreen’s or Target, which is MUCH faster!

Also, I properly dispose of my batteries and light bulbs, instead of just throwing them away where they become part of the landfill. I would show you a picture, but I just took them and don’t have any more, yet.

God stretches out heaven over empty space and hangs the earth upon nothing

Job 26:7 (The Living Bible)

I have seen those photos of the earth, taken from the moon’s surface. Hanging out there, all by its lonesome little self in the big ol’ universe, our little planet looks fragile to me.  I wonder how will there be enough of anything and everything for future generations. Will we perfect solar and wind energy? Will we figure out how to de-salinate the oceans? How can the planet feed everyone in the far future? Are we raising up the scientists and thinkers and dreamers of tomorrow? Oh, Lord, make it so.