Paper Or Plastic, Sir

Standing in line at Wally-world I suffered through this exchange of views. The cashier asked the man in front of me, "Which of these will you choose? Paper or plastic for you, sir?" and with a snarl he said, "Plastic will do for me!" Then he proceeded to proclaim for all to hear, the plight of the forest tree! "Don't you know that cuttin' down all them trees will leave the forests bare, Deprivin' them poor hooty owls of a place to roost - now don't you really care? Just think of them dwindlin' rain forests that supports monkeys, birds and such! But them greedy companies keep cuttin' and sawin' - they're so outta touch!" The gum-chewing cashier looked him dead in the eye and had this to say: "My old man has been a lumberjack fer twenty years and works hard fer his pay! I don't give a hoot about yer owls, yer rain forests or yer ring-tailed monkeys! I ain't politically correct and you can relay that to all yer tree-huggin' junkies!" I clutched my loaf of Wonder bread trying to look nonchalant, staring into space. (We were in an express lane - he had two full carts, showing his lack of grace!) Should this get out of hand I expected to hear, "Cleanup on Express Lane Five!" I was beginning to wonder if both parties were apt to come out of this alive! Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired © All Rights Reserved Placed No. 4 in Susan Burch's "Paper Or Plastic" Contest - March 2012