Plastic bags, masks and self-preservation
Remember January?
The good old days when grocery stores started charging you for bags that weren’t plastic because we all wanted to save the environment? Well that got shot to hell quick, now didn’t it?
It’s a perfect example of how self-centered humans are that we were so serious about saving the environment at the beginning of the year, that we outlawed plastic bags. I still remember an older white lady, some might refer to her as an aging hippie, berating a Smith’s clerk because Smith’s still had a plastic bag or two on their check out counter. This old jerk must have felt powerful telling off the Smith’s check out person as she pulled out her overpriced Trader Joe's cloth bags.
Jump forward to March and those plastic bags were back and not one hippie was protesting on Civic Plaza about it. Why not? Because they decided the environment can wait, they didn’t want to die from COVID-19. Let the plastic bags fly into the air, put your mask on and breathe deep. If it’s you versus the environment, you know who is going to win.
Speaking of masks, this last weekend I was shopping at my local Smith’s when I saw a commotion at the checkout counter. Being snoopy but deaf, I moved closer to hear what was happening. Apparently, several shoppers had noticed an older middle-aged white guy walking around the store carrying his mask. They pointed him out to the manager and other Smith’s employees demanding that something be done.
I looked where they were pointing and there he was, your basic older white dude, shorts, green t-shirt, no ass, walking around with his mask protecting his left hand, not his face. Oddly, the woman he was with was wearing her mask. He looked proud. He looked determined. He looked like a rebel without a clue. You could see he was ready to fight with the first person who confronted him about his mask wearing left hand.
What happened? Nothing.
The boss at Smith’s decided discretion was the better part of valor and told his staff to just ignore him. I asked the manager why he wasn’t asking the man to wear his mask, as Governor Grisham has ordered. He told me that since the killing earlier in the week on Old Coors involved a dispute over a face mask, he was not going to put his employees in harm's way. That’s a smart manager who cares for his employees.
He said the guy apparently was allowed entrance to Smith’s because he had his mask in his hand and motioned that he was going to put it on. Not only is he in violation of Grisham’s order, he is a faker too.
I asked the manager about calling APD. He gave me an expression of “you have got to be kidding” and said they will never come in time so why bother. Good point again. This manager is wise to the ways of the world and Albuquerque.
The moral of this story is when the nut-cutting comes, humans are going to save their own asses. We don’t give a damn about the environment and Governor Grisham’s orders. It’s self-preservation.
