It's not easy being green

I sometimes think I must be the only person in my entire town who uses re-usable shopping bags, judging by the responses of local store clerks.

The other day, I stopped to pick up a few items at Wal-Mart. I gave the clerk my little shopping bag and asked her to please put my items in it. After she finished giving me the deer-in-headlights look that I've come to expect, she took the bag.

I busied myself with getting my wallet, giving the baby a snack cracker, keeping my toddler from running off, getting my wallet out of my purse, etc. while she was ringing up the items.

I paid for my purchases and reached for my bag ... to find that she had put my items into plastic bags and then out the plastic bags into my reusable shopping bag.

guh-wha???

I was speechless. Really. It was my turn for the deer-in-headlights look. I didn't know whether to laugh or to be so, so, sad.

I know. Some people are going to say that's what I get for shopping at Wal-Mart. But - while this was an extreme example - I swear I get funny looks and responses all the time when I pull out my "green" bags.

This is what I get for living in uber-conservative-ville. I know Californians have a reputation for being liberal. But I think I live in the most "right"- socially and politically - area of the entire left coast.

When I am in San Francisco or Sacramento or even some areas in SoCal, nobody looks at me funny for trying to be a more "green" consumer. In fact, my favorite stores EXPECT me to bring my own bag. And they don't look at me funny when I ask whether a product is organic or was made in China or was grown locally.

But, around here, people look at you like you've just grown a second head if you do those things. And if you start talking about carbon footprints or environmental responsibility, they back away slowly ... like "crazy liberal hippie chick" is contagious. Sometimes, I wish it was.

I'm not the "greenest" person out there. But I try to do little things in my home and my life that are healthy for my family and our world. And around here that makes me a little green fish out of water.

And I swear sometimes I feel like I am being strangled by the uber-right mentality of my town. Politics, religion, the environment, civil rights ... I am usually the minority opinion on just about every social topic around here. It's usually just not even worth it to have the conversation.

*sigh*

There are a lot of great things about my town. But, somedays, I just ACHE to move somewhere where the people are just a little bit more ... like me.