Sometimes the best intentions go wrong. Magdalene (not her real name) and I went out for some quality time together last month. It isn’t often that we get much one on one time together, so it was nice for me to smother her spend an afternoon with her. We did a little geocaching (because we are proud hardcore nerds) and then went out to dinner. We thought ahead and bought our own to go containers, our own reusable straws, and a cloth napkin to wrap the used straws in after use. Once we were seated, the waitress came to take out drink order. We each ordered a pop and Magdalene asked for water too. We made sure to politely say “NO STRAWS.” We were just about to begin self righteously patting ourselves on the back when the waitress returned with our drinks. Each drink had a straw already stuck in it. Ugh! As soon as the waitress walked away, Magdalene grabbed her straws to remove them. I stopped her and told her just to use them. “But it’s bad for the environment,” she protested. She wanted to use the straws we brought. The thing is, the straws are going in the trash either way, whether we use them or not. At this point, it’s better to just suck it up, literally. “You should say something to her (the waitress),” she suggested. The waitress was clearly busy and just made a mistake. I felt it was best to just let it go. It’s just a few straws. It’s a process and it’s going to happen. We tried our best. When you go to establishments with your own containers or utensils make sure you are proactive and ask for what you want (or don’t want) ahead of time. You don’t want to bring your travel cup to Starbucks just to have your drink made in a plastic cup and then poured into your reusable cup. Try your best, plan ahead, be polite, and suck it up when your fabulous plan of less fails.
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