It's In The Bag
Sometimes you switch on the radio and it's almost like the presenter has been spying on you. Today, for example, I got in the car and heard Lesley Riddoch talking about these proposed laws to ban the sale of plastic carrier bags. Uncanny, because I'd just been buying my lunch in the Inverness branch of Marks & Spencer (roast chicken, fruit salad, chocolate-covered shortbread) and had been given the third degree after requesting a bag to carry it in.
"You do realise we'll have to charge you for that bag?" said the bloke on the cash register.
"No I didn't but that's fine."
"Well..if you're sure.."
I'm not complaining about the cost. Well, not much. But it was the look he gave me and the tone of his voice. I might as well have been asking to buy heavy ammunition. I mean...it's just a plastic bag. I'm not trying to destroy the world.
But then that's the point. Apparently these plastic bag are going to be the end of us. And, to be fair, the M&S bloke was very polite to me after I'd paid for my food. He pointed to the little rack of paper napkins and cutlery and told me to help myself.
It was plastic cutlery, of course.