Plastic Bag Part 2

I was at Eunilaine, grocery near our house. I was doing the grocery (obviously what else would I do in a grocery store) and I had my usual cloth bags with me.

I was at the cash register again and I told the girl manning it that I dont want it put in a plastic bag and she said "ok po , Ma'am!". That pleased me to no end, because as I was waiting for my turn, I was cringing inwardly because I was anticipating a battle with the plastic bag brigade again.

Anyway, she told that to the bagger and I gave my bags to the bagger. The bagger then proceeded to put my groceries INSIDE A PLASTIC BAG then put it in my bag!

SUSMARYOSEP!

I had to explain why I didnt want it in a plastic bag and the bagger said "Eh ma'am naka bag naman po sa plastic eh!"

huh?


Another one was when I was in Koh Samui, Thailand doing the shopping for the ship. We had like 20 packs of groceries and we asked for cartons instead of plastic bags.

Looked like they haven't encountered such a request before and they all looked at me quizically. I had to do some explaining. They finally understood but I had to explain. The woman said they had no cartons. In a grocery?! C'mon. My friend Ashby and I said "we dont believe you, youre a grocery store you must have some somewhere?"

And magically some appeared enough to pack everything. But the weird thing? We had to buy OUR OWN tape to seal the cartons.

HAAYYYYYYYY.......

Being an environmentalist is not easy

There is no denying the state of the environment we are in now.
It’s right in our faces: increasing typhoons, intolerable heat, coral bleaching, diminishing forests and fish catch, genetic manipulation of food that’s being forced down our throats, mountains of garbage, increasing floods in places that has never had it before, toxic waste in our air, water and land (Bhopal Tragedy), not to mention the extinction of species and the legacy of the nuclear age (read: Chernobyl).

Being an environmentalist is not easy. Friends make fun of you, people look at you like you’re crazy and the teaching the folks at home to do waste segregation is not an easy task either.

Take for example, when I buy at National. I ask the cashier not to bag it as I have my own. She says

Cashier: “Ma’am, it’s our policy to have our items in plastic bags.”
Me: “Ok lang yon, I understand but I don’t want the plastic as I have my own bag.”
Cashier: “Pero Ma’am kailangan po naka plastic bag!”
Me: with a steely glint in my eye pero still smiling
“I will just show the receipt to the guard if he asks me”
Cashier: “Wait lang po Ma’am I will ask the manager if that’s allowed”

After 5 minutes, Cashier returns with the Manager in tow. Cashier explains the situation. People behind me are looking at me and the other cashier behind me is casting glances as well.

Manager: “Ma’am kailangan po kasi naka plastic” (has to be put in plastic)

Me: “No I don’t want the plastic as I have my own bag. Tipid na rin sa inyo yan kasi bawas ng plastic sa inyo.” (It will save you plastic)

By then the steely glint in my eye is replaced by a hard look behind a fake smile.

Manager: After seeing my look, with an annoyed glance to the cashier says, “Sige, pwede na nga (go ahead, its ok)”

to me she says
“Ma’am please just keep the receipt and show it to the guard”



Cashier puts the stuff in my bag with a bitchy face.

I really don’t care if they get annoyed or not. I mean this plastic bag will only be used once and thrown away. And I always, ALWAYS, have the choice not to put it in a plastic bag.

Another example was when I was still working in the call center. We had just come out of a convenience store and my co-worker had just parked her half-eaten siopao on the sidewalk. I asked her why she put it there. She said “ Eh kasi, Mommy Maan nakakatamad magtapon ng basura eh!” (I feel too lazy to put it in the trash can)

GRRRRRRRR!
I told her. “Kaya dumadami ang basura eh! Don’t you know that contributes to climate change?!”
Her: “Sobra ka naman Mommy Maan! Environmentalist ka talaga!”

I went back and put HER trash in the bin.

I absolutely have no patience with people like her.
But of course one MUST HAVE patience to teach or else it will be a lost cause.
We have to teach people to be more responsible about how they consume and why they must choose such options. We have to teach the value of :

not choosing plastic bags (it’s not reusable, it’s not recyclable, and it’s only downgradeable. Contributes to the already gigantic waste problem),

not choosing to eat in fast food restaurants that do not use reusable food containers (Styrofoam is not re-usable, plastic straws and cups are not recyclable. Contributes to the already gigantic waste problem)

not choosing to eat food that are produced by companies that have GMO (Genetically Modified Organism) in their food products as a policy (Nestle, GMC, Monsanto, Kraft, among others. Common sense: Precautionary principle, we don’t know the effect GMO’s have in our body so why eat something that we don’t know about?)

not choosing make-up and body cosmetics that have toxic chemicals in them. It’s like putting on industrial paint on your body (to name a few St. Ives, Jergens, Estee Lauder, L’Oreal, for more information go to www.nottoopretty.org)

not choosing PVC (poly vinyl chloride) in building houses and buildings
(studies have proved that PVC leaches toxic chemicals that are carcinogenic or cancer causing)
not to burn trash (it contributes to the greenhouse gases)


Being an environmentalist was and still is viewed by many as being only a fad, hippie stuff, radical etc. Sometimes it hurts to hear comments even from close friends when they call me “YOU environmentalists”, uttered in such a way as would make you feel one is akin to being a leper or having a psychological problem.

With the state of the environment being what it is now, I don’t think we can afford NOT TO CARE. After all, if you only had one ship and you trashed it and it was the only place that you can live in,

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?


So please help save our planet.
It’s the only one we have.

Legacy

Even though Austin died, I think he left a legacy behind.
Sarah one of my dogs is pregnant!
She's been digging a big hole and hiding and whining to me.
Her boobs are swollen and her tummy is taut and tight.

Not sure if she gave birth already or is about to...
I'm going to find out soon...

dismal

this blog has been really
really
really
dismal for some time already.

sorry guys.

but hey..theres still more stuff to read here... like this:

During one of our seminars, a woman asked a
common question. She said, "How do I know if I
married the right person?"
I noticed that there was a large man sitting next to
her so I said, "It depends. Is that your husband?"
In all seriousness, she answered "how do you
know?"
Let me answer this question because the chances
are good that it's weighing on your mind.
Here's the answer.

EVERY relationship has a cycle. In the beginning,
you fell in love with your spouse. You anticipated
their call, wanted their touch, and like their
idiosyncrasies.

Falling in love with your spouse wasn't hard. In
fact, it was a completely natural and spontaneous
experience. You didn't have to DO anything. That's
why it's called "falling" in love... because it's
happening TO YOU.

People in love sometimes say, "I was swept off my
feet." Think about hte imagery of that expression.
it implies that you were just standing there, doing
nothing, and then something came along and
happened TO YOU.

Falling in love is easy. It's a passive and
spontaneous experience. But after a few years of
marriage, the euphoria of love fades. It's the natural
cycle of EVERY relationship. Slowly but surely,
phone calls become a bother (if they come at all),
touch is not always welcome (when it happens),
and your spouse's idiosyncrasies, instead of being
cute, drive you nuts.

The symptoms of this stage vary with every
relationship, but if you think about your marriage,
you will notice a dramatic difference between the
initial stage when you were in love and a much
duller or even angry subsequent stage. At htis
point, you and/or your spouse might start
asking, "Did I marry the right person?" And as you
and your spouse reflect on the euphoria of the love
you once had, you may begin to desire that
experience with someone else. This is when
marriages breakdown. People blame their spouse
for their unhappiness and look outside their
marriage for fulfillment.

Extramarital fulfillment comes in all shapes and
sizes. Infidelity is the most obvious. But
sometimes people trun to work, a hobby, a
friendship, excessive TV, or abusive substances.

But the answer to this dilemma does NOT lie
outside your marriage. It lies within it.

I'm not saying that you couldn't fall in love with
someone else. You could. And TEMPORARILY
you'd feel better. But you'd be in the same
situation a few years later.
Because (listen carefully to this):

THE KEY TO SUCCEEDING IN MARRIAGE IS
NOT FINDING THE RIGHT PERSON;
IT'S LEARNING TO LOVE THE PERSON YOU
FOUND.

SUSTAINING love is not a passive or spontaneous
experience. It'll NEVER just happened to you. You
can't "find" LASTING love. you have to "make" it
day in and day out. That's why we have the
expression "the labor of love." Because it takes
time, effort, and energy. And most importantly, it
takes WISDOM. You have to know WHAT TO DO
to make your marriage work.

Make no mistake about it. Love is NOT a mystery.
there are specific things you can do (with or
without your spouse) to succeed with your
marriage.

Just as there are physical laws of the universe
(such as gravity), there are also laws for
relationships. Just as the right diet and exercise
program makes you physically stronger, certain
habits in your relationship WILL make your
marriage stronger. It's a direct cause and effect. If
you know and apply the laws, the results are
predictable...you can "make" love.

Love in marriage is indeed a "decision"...not just a
feeling.

-Anonymous

I got this off one of the forums I go to. Made me more depressed....

And now for some comic relief

I found this on the dribbleglass.com website

Dreams vs. Love

Are your dreams worth to lose the one you love?

damn right

I vented to my friend today about my feelings because I was feeling really miserable.
Then my other friend called and VENTED TO ME.


Funny how other people's problems can make you forget your own for a little while.
And funny how your own advice to your friends seems to flow so much easier from you than for you to solve your own.

Easier to heal other people's wounds other than your own.

I remember one text I received.

WE HAVE TO BE BROKEN IN ORDER TO BE WHOLE.

The Bottom Line

Today I 'peel' depressed.

Its not easy letting love go even after 2 years of parting ways.
Moreso when we almost got married.
Its not easy,
even after you know you havent been good to each other
even after all the fighting,
even after the tears,
even after the heartache,
even after all the misunderstandings,
even after all the 'even afters'....

Sometimes you have to let the other person go and find for himself where his happiness lies, and accept the fact that youre not meant for each other.

Even if your heart is screaming to take him back.

Masyado bang misteryoso?
I don't want to go into details. All I know is something is wrenching my heart to bits and I can't cry. The flood is all dammed up inside.




Para pang palubag loob, I call this my 'character building period'. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger di ba.

Pero alam mo, I'd rather take the pain that I feel when I have LBM than this pain in my heart. At least yon nawawala pagkatapos ng 3 araw....

Ignore

I've been ignoring my blog for quite some time now. It's due to work.
After this week, I will be posting something quite new (I hope).
My cough finally went away after a week of antibiotics. and Fiona the Lab chewed her leash, chewed the water plant, chewed a hole in two towels both owned by my friend Paeng, chewed, her harness and chewed my two-piece (which survived thank God! It was a new one pa!).
she is definitely teething alright.
and I think because people were busy, she was being ignored and she wanted attention.
Poor baby.

Anyway, bad ol me I forgot to tell my Nanay where I was for 5 days. Wala kasing charger yung fone ko, tapos wala pa kaming landline. Olats.

Austin

My dog died yesterday. When I woke up he wasn't moving anymore.
We don't know why he died.
He will be sorely missed.
Now I'm only left with Sarah and Salsa.

Grabe na to

I think I'm dying.
I have this really really REALLY nasty cough. It's keeping me awake nights because before I go to sleep I need to really hack it up for 10-15 minutes before my throat stops tickling. Apat na rolls of tissue paper ang consumed ko. Shareholder na ata ako sa Joy. Kadiri..yakity doodle...

Macho na nga boses ko eh. Bingi pa!

I had to relent to my nanay's request to take antibiotics. I didn't want to because I wanted my body to heal this cough on its own. Well with a little help with lagundi, the chinese tablets and cough syrup that my friend Steven gave me....and the three bottles of cough expectorant and mucosilvant that I just went through. HAHAHAHA!
I also went through half a kilo of Kalamansi ( a type of citrus) to no avail.

This was the second time that this happened to me this year. The first lasted all of 3 weeks.

Times like these...hinde juicy fruit gum ang kailangan ko...antibiotics!

Health is wealth talaga.