The first one

This is from a letter I sent to Tom. I guess I started writing it for him after grocery shopping, watching CNN, and reading his own blog...

Life in America is the same. Everyday I wake up, brush my teeth, take a shower, read the news online (GOP sex scandal, rescue missions, celebrity marriages – the usual), go to work at the mind-numbingly boring movie theater [it's been getting better], then read books to pass the time… maybe end the day with some ice cream or pie at Sherry’s with some friends.

Updates: Yes, our president is still George W. Bush. No, we haven’t solved immigration. No, we haven’t solved our health care system’s problems. No, social security is still plagued. No, we are still using petroleum oil. Yes, China, Japan, and other countries have better emission standards. No, Democrats have not gotten anywhere with the war in Iraq… Should I go on? In any case, most Americans should be happy that gas prices are still falling. $2.85 here in Grants Pass. However, to the environmentalist, lower gas prices mean more buyers and more CO2, CO, NO, and benzene emission. Of course, while the automotive and energy industries of America are more than happy to compromise the environment for success in the stock market, other companies at least try to put on a façade that is eco-friendly; example being Fred Meyer’s “Earth lover’s tote bag” for 99 cents. At first glance it seems America is stepping up, taking pollution by the horns and making an attempt to save God’s glorious earth, but simply look around the corner from the tote display and you will find no paper bags at the self checkout, and no choice from the employees who used to ask, “paper or plastic?” Then there are the commercials that came out a few years ago making the answer to this question more difficult than it should be. The commercials began with some touching music, black and white video of hospital patients, and then a voice explaining how plastics – whether in our car’s air bag system, medical equipment, or even commercial products – save lives. They then ended with some corny message about how we should all praise plastics. After all that, who would want to choose paper over plastic? What good did paper ever do for a hospital patient? The only purpose paper ever played in (American) hospitals was to print bills on. NPR had a special a few weeks back on the history of plastics. I only caught a few minutes of it while driving to work (burning gas – CO2 that will contribute to the next glacier melting) and the reporter seemed shocked to hear that plastic – once thrown away – will never decompose, never be recycled, or even magically disappear. Now, if an NPR reporter was surprised that plastic never goes away, how the hell would a Fred Meyer’s customer be able to make a sound “paper or plastic” decision? Well, corporate America made that choice simple- Plastic. Well… plastic or tote bag, that is.