child

i recall one my mother told us about a traveller who was approached by an old woman with terrible cataracts on her eyes. the woman asked the traveller for help, and the man averted his eyes.

then another man came along and was approached by the old woman. she asked him to clean her eyes, and even though he found the task unpleasant, he did as she asked. then, miraculously, the scales fell from the old woman's eyes and she became young and beautiful. the man married her and became wealthy and prosperous.

it is a simple tale, but its message is an enduring one: virtue and generosity will be rewarded in ways that one cannot know. --nelson mandela, long walk to freedom

plástico

[not to be confused with plaxico :]

i like how everyone at the grocery store gives me an incredulous look when i say, "no necesito una bolsita."

i don't need a plastic bag.

the face contorts, as it slowly curves upward from the cash register.

"¿¿CÓMO??"

"¡¿dónde va a ponerlo?!" the eyes bore a hole through my flimsy request.

i point towards my purse or canvas bag.

"aca, puedo ponerlo aca," my eyes are wide, blinking with innocence.

with an exasperated sigh, occasionally accompanied with head-shaking or muttering about the strange customs of those chinos, they hand me my goods.

i stash them and flee, running home-free.

man, what a girl has to go through to save me some environment.