Green Tomorrow

“Paper or plastic? I was terrified to answer this question. This new found fear was surprising because I had asked this question a million times during my first high school job. The matter was infinite. “The paper or plastic, paper or plastic, paper or plastic? Customers always answered the question with rapid ease. I never really thought about what motivated their decision beyond a preference based on the simplicity of convenience. I was too busy thinking about the daily dramas of high school to reflect on the premise behind paper or plastic. Today was different. I was no longer the gangly girl at the end of the checkout line. Now I was an adult with a degree and a ‘real’ job that felt inept to answer the simple question: “paper or plastic”?

My ‘real’ job I had taken from the country to the city. The city has had many new and exciting experiences to offer a young girl, but who knew of urban grocery shopping during my lunch break could become so terrible? The native has not yet refer to the place where you collect and pay (with plastic of course) their food as a grocery store. Of them to it as a complete food market. Unlike partial maintenance? There are shops that sell some half eaten tubs of ice cream? Not least the guy on the assembly line at the plant stand with a giant spoon gobbling half of superman ice cream?

Although this was an interesting concept of cooking, food the complete market turned out to be than half scarier eaten food for sale. Groovy this store actually scoff at the concept of superman ice cream. The horror of neon colored foods artificially send their customers screaming in the streets. Complete food market for customers flocked vegetables fresh, natural ingredients and biological anythings. I found the shelf selections fascinating. What was surprising to realize the abundance of options beyond the freezer and preservatives. Smart these buyers were so in tune with mother earth! Yes, my hometown consisted of wheat fields and cows but the city is’ natural ‘cook with a courageous and confident attitude.

After carefully pineapple tofu, peanut oil and pear juice I could hear the self-liquidation inches doubt I was positive that I would never be able to choose as something perfectly fashionable as it was tasty. How could something on these shelves meet my never ending sweet? Not to mention my ineptness to see the next best thing in the world of tofu? Just as my stomach was preparing for his first big leap I noticed salads. I could manage a salad bar.

I was glad to myself as I took my plastic (recycled of course) container vegetables at checkout. I was ready to fly at random under the radar of cash with my scanner salad lunch. Nobody in this store would be the suspicion that I was clueless on almost all four walls had to offer. The girl with the radar gun and the girl bagging food were a few years younger than me. I imagined that were environmental science students. My professor of environmental science in college was great, so I hoped too. The tension in my neck started to ease away until the environmental science number one girl asked that all too familiar and usually trivial question, “paper or plastic”? Panic shot through me like a lightning heat.

What was the correct answer? As far as I knew, the debate among scientists as to whether paper or plastic was better for the environment was still raging. However, there must be a position that hard core environmentalists / complete food market buyers were taking? I immediately tried to chic shopping before me as she was leaving the line. My greatest despair as I saw his execution of cloth bags. Of course had cloth bags. All good environmentalists used cloth bags. Why can not recover a cloth bag off the rack at the checkout line? The sudden line of customers behind me must have parachuted in because there was now a small crowd blocking my view a fabric of rescue. I imagined myself hurdling over the small crowd to claim a bag of soft cotton and then presenting it to victoriously Environmental Sciences girl number one. Except in reality, I clumsily attempt to push through the crowd. My only achievement would be a huge delay, in line because it would not be able to decide between the taupe or beige bag.

The situation was impossible. Environmental Sciences girl number two was with me peering through his glasses …. waiting … pending ….. waiting for my reply. I felt as if the entire population within the shop had set their eyes on the back of my head. Finally I just looked down at my salad container and mumbled “plastic” and then held my breath. There were explosions of fire, floods of tears or large cracks in the floor. There were no non-verbal indicators of science girls who had made the wrong choice. Simply finished their jobs and handed my change and plastic bag.

Holding back my breath, I tried to walk and look casual (while actually launching) for the door. I had never been a great believer in the phrase ‘never look back’, but today I was just planning. Fuga. Fuga. Fuga. But as the door glass started to swing, I quickly swung my gaze back into the urban jungle food. I wanted to see. I wanted to see what happened as the next person was in line with jolted “paper or plastic”? Nothing happened. The scene at the check-out was captured on re-play. But I had to wonder how my heels clicking on the sidewalk, was flickering I saw in his eyes panic, or was only a reflection of the red laser scanner?