Cross-contamination

Maine was just one of many states in the US to issue bans on single-use plastic bags, and the effect on me and most other people is that we have a collection of carryalls at our front doors, which we schlep into the various stores when we shop. If going to four or five stores, one must remember to bring four or five bags, and probably extra bags for impulse shopping. For a quick trip one wonders if there is already a bag in the car and is it suitable for the task? The bring-your-own-bag burden on the elderly and handicapped is particular onerous. Just shopping alone is difficult for the disabled, without being tasked with bag logistics. If we forget to bring our bags then we must pay anywhere from five cents to one dollar to buy bag(s) from the store for our store purchases, to buy bags that were free from the store for most of the twentieth century. Buy bags, that is, if bags are even available and often they are not. Then everyone haphazardly dumps loose purchases from cart to car. In my experience, lost items and breakage when bagless are not uncommon. All this trouble and aggravation for the sake of the elite's sense of moral superiority, and they have deftly shifted the burden of it onto the shoulders of the poor. I wonder if sales are down, if people stop buying when they reach the limit of their bags?

So, when is Better Homes & Gardens going to do a special edition on decorating ideas and DIY projects for our collections of ugly bags and soiled carryalls? When people plunk down their carryalls from home onto the checkout convey belt (where I also put my purchases, my food, my clothing, other household items) I shudder to think where they keep their bags at home, is it near the garbage can, next to the dog's bed, beside the cat poo box? Plenty of potential in this for cross-contamination.

My Burdensome Collection Of Carryall As Required By Law

by Annmarie Throckmorton 2021