I was cleaning up the kitchen. I put the dirty dishes in the sink and started throwing away the rest. I heard my mom gasp.
"Emily! What are you doing?!"
"Cleaning up. I know it looks strange to you but don't be alarmed."
"No, what are you doing with that bottle?"
I looked down at my hands. I was holding an empty plastic Sprite bottle poised above the garbage can.
"I'm throwing away the garbage."
My mom looked at me like I was crazy and did what she always does when she can't figure me out and I'm in trouble. She yelled for my dad.
With horror and fear in her voice she yelled, "Bill! Bill! Our daughter has forgotten how to recycle!"
My dad hollered back, "NO!!!"
He came running in, opened the garbage lid and started pulling things out, "Cans, bottles, napkins... oh, no! A milk carton?!"
I took a shocked step back. What was I doing?? Who have I become?! Years and years of learning recycling songs, chanting, planting trees, enjoying countless hours of recycling videos and puppet shows and now I'm just throwing everything into the same bin?
"I'm... I'm sorry," I stammered in a shocked whisper. "I... um... they don't have recycling bins in Utah like they do here... I guess I just... forgot."
My dad continued his trash can search for anything else that could be recycled, my mom watched with a hand over her mouth and I sulked over to the sink to load the dishwasher.
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5 comments:
hehe...i'm going to freak out now every time i see you throw something recycable away at home...and then watch you not care...
i think it's a provo thing, cuz i went home to salt lake this weekend and had the same experience.
now i feel so decadent. that's right! i'll throw away an empty soda can! i don't even care!
How could you?
Wow, that's like my mom's reaction when I bought groceries. Gasp! How dare I bring edibles into the house! Don't I remember how hard she worked to give her kids eating disorders? The best part was that I labeled everything so the queen of guilt eaters anonymous won't eat my food in the middle of the night. Don't worry, I'm moving back out.
hurray for moving back out!!
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