Never put a used condom in your reusable bag.

I have stopped driving my car.  The brakes are going and the A/C doesn't work, among other issues.  There is enough gas to get to the dealership where I will be picking up my new car next week.  (OK, yes, I'm a little excited.)  As I get ready to give my car a new life (without me), I had to clean her out.  I usually have some combination of these items in my car: library book/book on CD, magazine or newspaper, and coupons.  In my trunk, I have a box of reusable bags.  Yes, I have a box of bags in my trunk.  You never know how many you will need, and if you don't have them in the car, you won't have them.  Well, I do keep one in my purse.  Anyway, stop judging me for my collection of reusable bags.

When I shop, I prefer to bag my own groceries if I can because I know what fits best in what bag.  If someone else bags my groceries, I know they will do a weird or awful job--whether they use my bags or plastic bags.  That's the way it is and has always been; I deal with it.  I wash out some of my bags, but many of them are canvas and I do not put anything "leaky" like meat in them, so I rarely wash those.  (I have had mixed luck with washing--some bags become misshaped or small, and I seem to have lost my favorite one.)

I know I have a lot of reusable bags but they were FREE and I use them.  I no longer look for coupons for free bags, since I have enough.  I was at the grocery with my girlfriends after a pedicure and we got plastic bags except for filling my bag in my purse.  And everyone said they should carry a bag, would start carrying a bag, or do usually bring a bag.  So is it worse to collect reusuable bags or use plastic bags?  I think reusable bags are better in every way.  But there are sanitation issues with them, in particular that people are not keeping them clean.  And I had no idea how much cashiers and baggers feel inconvienienced by them.  (Sorry, I don't care that they take longer--put in more and better self checkout lanes.)

If you use reusable bags (and why wouldn't you--do you hate whales?!), please make an effort to follow Ten Commandments of Reusable Bag Use.  I learned that I should put them in the front of the order (I usually hand them to the bagger or cashier); the rest seem completely obvious to me.  But, just in case you didn't know: never put a used condom in your reusable bag.