Getting groceries has gotten complicated. Now I’m all for reuse, reduce and recycle, but buying bananas has become stressful. It started when we switched to cloth bags; buying them, that was easy, remembering to bring the darn things into the store, well that was harder. I’d get to the cash and realize my bags were still in my car. There I would be at the cash, feeling like the “The Destroyer of the Earth.” But I’ve mastered that part now. My bags ride in the front passenger seat. Sorry sweetheart, you have to sit in the back, if I move the bags, the earth with implode.

Now I have a new problem. Grocery shopping is the newest extreme sport. And I’m not winning. When I get to the cash, the games begin. I’ve got to get the stuff out of the cart and onto the conveyer as fast as possible, because the cashier is ringing them though at warp speed. And there they sit, waiting to be bagged. Apparently this is now my job as the shopper. How that saves the environment, I’m not sure. But I play along. Rush to get them into the bags, which never cooperate. You’d think they’d be a bit nicer to me, since I’m more faithful to them, than my dog. I can never find a spot to put one down, so I balance the first one on top of the canned goods. Then the darn thing keeps flopping over and all I can think of is; bread goes on top, bread goes on top. And before I know it, the cashier is looking at me – wanting money. The next person in line is waiting for me – their turn at the grocery game is about to begin.

Oh, how I miss the good old days, when the cashier actually bagged groceries for you.