Hide the Trash Please!

"Where are the dried prunes ma?" - I had left them in their dried pitted prunes cover in the refridgerator, and could no longer see it there. My mother insists it is right in front of my eyes. Dutiful daughter that I am, I open my eyes wider and look carefully. For the life of me, I cannot see it there! Back to mommie (Side note: I cannot imagine the day we would not go to Ma when we can't find things!) She swoops into the kitchen with an air of confidence, and takes one look -"See, there it is!"

I still can't see a Prunes container - am I going blind?! She waves in impatience and thrusts the Infant Formula Similac container in my arms. I open it to find Prunes in a grapes cover!

"PPLLEEAASSEE MA!! How am I expected to find this? "

"Do you want me to throw this container just because the formula is over?" - she asks with a look of incredulity on her face. I yield reluctantly. Slowly, my kitchen contains mustard seeds in Yogurt containers, dried fruit in Oatmeal containers and Olive oil in Gatorade bottles!!! Gone are the days when I had all uniform containers for all my groceries.

In fact, these days, I rush out with the trash bag diplomatically, lest she finds some stuff that I discreetly placed in the trash bag! Well, I can imagine that in their days, good containers were hard to come by, but if I were to preserve every piece, I would be standing outside for want of space in my home. Yogurt, milk, baby food, juices - the list is endless, and the recycle bin does overflow!!

Environmentally, we were better off with the milkman ringing our doorbell at 6 a.m. instead of placing 3 milk cans in the trash can every week!