OPINION
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Now I’ve seen some stupid things in my time, and I’ll tell you that for nuthin’. But not much numbskullery comes close to plastic bag rage.
Grown adults having a meltdown when denied their sacred birthright – their precious placcy bag, Storming off to the other supermarket (where the rule’s the same).
On Bag Ban Day 1, store managers tried to tell me there had been only positive feedback (you know who you are). That turned out to be as true as “football’s coming home”.
Ask any check-out worker and they shake their heads and look down. They can’t even talk about it anymore, even if say I wouldn’t mind being charged $1 per bag, that might succeed in changing behaviour.
But supermarkets being supermarkets, they won’t tell you you’re wrong, for fear you might switch, or try the weird German place where stuff’s all in different spots.
So they give bags out for free, thicker ones, day after day, to coddle customers and make sure they’ll never come face-to-face with cold reality. I have no such qualms. Some people should just stop being stupid.
Get your act together adults and stop acting so entitled. You’re not entitled to plastic, you’re not entitled to produce unlimited pollution, and you’re not entitled to take your anger out on retail workers.
While we’re at it, let’s stop with the juvenile news stories about it (google Bolt, Andrew, bag ban. Or just don’t).
There was even a news story yesterday that revealed Coles had tweaked the frames that hold bags at check-outs, so as to accommodate the re-usable ones.
Designing the frame to actually fit the bags. Such ingenuity. Somebody get that manager a promotion!
The interesting, and tricky, part is how to replace the plastic bags we re-use around the house. We have a new bin. And once I get off my high horse, I’m off to buy some shares in a compostable bag manufacturer.