A Eugene Experience...

Okay, so I realize that it has been quite a while since my last post. There has been a lot to write about but so many different reasons why it hasn't happened. I will try and capture some of what has happened another day, but I just had to write about this today ...

Molly was at her last day of kindergarten this morning. Originally, she wanted me to stay with her all morning. I was there, with Jack because he had the day off of school due to grading, and was just standing around. I leaned over and told Molly that Jack and I were going to leave and would be back at the end of the morning. She was not happy - for a second - and then was off and playing!

Jack and I were off to run a few errands. I have had a big pile of recycling that I need to take to get our deposit back - yes, we get and pay deposits here for bottles, cans, and such! I went to a new place and was so excited because they got new machines. The new machines are an all in one sort of thing. The one machine takes the glass bottles, the plastic bottles, AND the cans - no more multiple machines!! Jack and I were grooving along. When we finished with our stuff, we had collect 100 items for a whole $5 - can you believe it (said with sarcasm!) I walked around the wall to recycle the paper bag that we had brought our stuff in, and what do I see ... 3 paper bags full of empty clean beer bottles. I was a bit confused - why would someone not recycle these to get their money. I told Jack that I was going to try one in the machine - thinking that maybe for some odd reason the machine did not want that particular beer brand. What do you know ... it took it and promptly crushed it and I was credited my 5 cents! Jack and I proceeded to do all 3 bags (75 bottles later) for a whooping $3.75 more - which is totally free since I did not pay for the deposit when the beer was bought mind you!!

Now, I smile when I think about the money I made for two reasons ...

1. it was free money

2. it was a totally eugeneian thing to do - boy, have I come a long way in 5 years!

Now, I want you all to know that I did for a couple of minutes think about not taking the money from the bottles. I did think about letting a homeless person find them and make the money that I did today. Obviously, I came to feel justified in doing it. What does that say about me as a person?