Light fingers. Hidden apples.

Oregon’s recent bag ban nearly made a thief of me. You know the drill. You’ll just pop into the store and grab some soup for lunch. You don’t need to grab a bag from your car. It’s just soup. Right? Wrong. It’s never just soup. It’s soup and, oh, that Kombucha you like, and wait, also some apricot scrub for your face. Winter takes its toll (doesn’t it?) on your complexion. Time to exfoliate.

You’re skimming through the aisles, the stack in your arms growing ever more precarious. And then, the defining moment. There’s just no more space in your hand for that apple you think will go quite nicely with your soup.

If I had been honest with myself and acknowledged its never “just soup”, I would have brought in my reusable bag like any other self-aware person. I could have then sanely and serenely glided through the store simply putting things into my bag then bringing them to the checkout counter. But no. I am not honest with myself. In my mind, it’s always “just soup” and so I put the apple into my pocket, not surprisingly having run out of hands.

A bag of Epsom salts, a bag of sugar snap peas and what’s this? Special mushroom chocolate that is so healthy and so chocolate? Yes. That too. I remind myself, again, that shopping at this store is dangerous for my budget.

I quickly said “hi, how are you?” to the checker. Debit. No cash back. Super secret code. Yes, I’ll need to purchase a reusable bag for $.99. (Damnit!) Put my card in my left-hand pocket. Reach for my keys in my other pocket. And there it is. The apple. The nearly stolen apple. Good god!

A stray dollar in my pocket exonerates me from the theft of a $.67 organically grown fuji apple, on sale this week.

I’m choosing to see this as a wake-up call. There is no trip to the store for “just soup”. It’s always “soup and…”

Environmentally destructive single-use plastic bags will no longer allow me to live in a world of delusion and impulsivity. I must become a better person. If only to refrain from stealing produce in the future.

#OregonBagBan #SingleUsePlastic #RealisticExpectations

About Marisa

Marisa Chappell Hossick has been telling stories through photographs and words for over 20 years. She is a professional photographer, published writer, and Communications Director for the Deschutes River Conservancy. Her experience travelling the world, staying curious, learning languages and surviving motherhood feature in her freelance writing and storytelling. Marisa has a certificate in Photography from the International College of Professional Photography in Melbourne, Australia. Prior to that, Marisa completed her Bachelor of Arts in French Literature from the University of Oregon and has Certificate of Proficiency from the Cours de Civilization Français of the University of Paris - Sorbonne. Marisa is fluent in French and dabbles with German, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic, Spanish and Latin. She lives with her husband and two wild boys in her hometown of Bend, Oregon.