I had to use a paper bag at the grocery store the other day. Oh, the memories!

[shockey80]

I had to pick a few items at the grocery store. I had to use a paper bag and I loved it. It held so many more items. You had to use two hands to carry or the bag may rip. How horrifying!

I am very old fashioned, I never believe in change unless it makes sense. I still use cash for everything. It's Hard to hack cash. I have never owned a smart phone. I don't want people calling me all the time? I hated phones before smart phones.

I have used cash for everything my whole life. What a terrible burden, Lol. The results of doing this have given me a credit score of over 800 and very little debt.

Please call me old fashion, a dinosaur, it is a great compliment.

[northoftheborder]

1. I still write checks!

[hlthe2b]

2. You may want to pick up some gloves to handle your cash...

It is unclear the level of risk, but there certainly is some. (and I've always liked to use cash too--especially after my credit/debit card was cloned a few years ago)

[jimfields33]

27. Credit card users should do the same

Those key punch machines are used by virtually everyone. ATM and store machines are probably so infected.

[hlthe2b]

28. Sure, but you can/should wipe them with your hand gel or wipes. Can't do that with cash

[dewsgirl]

3. I remember them from when I was young, we have to

carry everything up stairs, I imagine that would be a real nightmare with paper bags.
I never lived in an apartment until recently, I find this to be a huge inconvenience, but am thankful it isn't the third floor.

[at140]

31. When I was young and strong, there was a blizzard in 1967 in Chicago

and my street had 6 foot deep snow which did not get ploughed for a week. My car by the curb was buried.
Guess what, I had to walk to the grocery store a mile away, and carry paper bags full of groceries back to our apartment. I will never forget how tired my arms were at the end of that walk. When you start out from the store, you think oh this is not too heavy, I can carry it. But after 8 blocks walk it is a different story.

[dewsgirl]

37. That sounds like an absolute nightmare, obviously it was for you

to remember 50 years later. I feel bad bitching about walking up a flight of stairs.

[at140]

43. Yeah somethings you never forget!

and that just boggles my mind thinking how can our brain retain so many vivid memories so long.

[CTyankee]

4. so glad to meet another dinosaur! I hate my smart phone and don't use it.

I know I have to, but in order to do so I have to have a "tutorial" from my husband.

I carry reusable bags into the supermarket like everyone else, tho. I don't really want paper bags because they don't last as long as my resuseable ones.

Give me a break, folks. I have other, wonderful qualities...

[Vinca]

7. I finally decided I was too dumb for a smart phone and now I've got a flip phone.

It does all I need to do and costs a bit less, too.

[Polybius]

11. Texting is a nightmare though on flip phones

I remember those days around 2004. Was a royal pain in the butt.

[CTyankee]

21. why does anybody need to text if you can call?

[Polybius]

23. That's what I though too...in 2003

But today we can send a text when we don't want to talk. Here's the perfect example:

If I text my buddy Vin "Can you play cards tonight?" he'll respond either yes, no, or maybe. If I call him, he'll babble on an on and I might not be able to hang up for 20 minutes. Not that I don't want to talk to him, but I might be at work, sneaking a text. I have to be quick.

Plus (and here's a huge reason for texting) let's say I have to text like 10 people for the card game at my house. Imagine how long it will take if they are all talkers. Texting saves potentially 2 hours that I just don't have time for.

[CTyankee]

24. group email? Just like we used to do? What's wrong with that?

[Polybius]

50. Multiple reasons

1) Not everyone is always in front of their computer

2) The average person always has their phone next to them

3) Not every friend knows my email address. I'd bet less than 3 do. Certainly none of my card buddies.

4) It's fun.

[CTyankee]

54. you can also get a phone call. I think (but I'm not sure) that that was why the cell phone was

initially invented. Right?

[Polybius]

55. I use voice often too

I'm not absolute at all. I just think texting has its place.

[CTyankee]

56. I can see that, even tho I won't use it. I am woefully behind everyone else.

[Polybius]

57. Sending pictures sometimes is useful too

Especially if someone you love is far away.

[CTyankee]

58. oh yes, of course.

I wonder, tho, about a culture that is constantly sending pictures of themselves to each other because it CAN.

HOwever, I thought Warren's selfie pix was a terrific idea for a politician. Everybody who got to take those pix became part of her PR campaign. It was unpaid for advertising. I really thought that was brilliant.

[customerserviceguy]

39. If you don't have time to talk to those folks

how do you find the time to play cards with them?

[Polybius]

53. That's just how it works these days

I can love a friend or relative more than anyone. Doesn't mean I always want to talk, or always have time to talk. Especially 10 of them for cards. I do always have time to text though, it's faster. Ain't got time for that when I'm at work.

I have time Sunday nights. Some are good friends, some are acquaintances that I couldn't even begin to imagine talking on the phone to. Most are Republicans anyway, I don't need to hear about Trump.

I don't want to return to the dark ages of no texting. I'm an Xer. I was the first generation to use cells, although they weren't mainstream until I was in my 20's.

[LakeArenal]

26. Because people you call have busy lives

They can return a text at their convenience without disrupting people with a ringing phone.

[customerserviceguy]

38. You can do that with an email, too.

I guess a text is just an email that people feel oddly compelled to respond to faster than a regular email.

[customerserviceguy]

36. I'm with you

I refuse to text. Anything that someone wants to say to me, they can either call me or email me.

[LakeArenal]

41. I think that's kinda sad actually.

But if it suits you...I wish you the best.

[customerserviceguy]

42. It does suit me

Why is it "sad"? I'm perfectly happy not burying my nose in a smartphone all day long like so many people do lately. To me, they're sad, because they're not actually interacting with people in realtime, with the richness that tone of voice, etc. adds to communication.

It's bad enough that phones and email deprive us of body language in communication.

[LakeArenal]

44. You think I'm sad. Is there a difference there?

I’m not enumerating why I think it’s sad because it really isn’t my intent to judge.

[customerserviceguy]

45. I explained

why I think it's sad that people immerse themselves in staring at a screen all day, and no, I don't think that applies to everyone who texts. I certainly didn't mean to apply it to you, since I don't know your frequency of smartphone face time.

However, you found it appropriate to find my blissful lack of texting sad. I'd be interested in your explanation as to why you assign that condition to me, without knowing anything else about my life.

[Ohiogal]

5. I still pay cash

at the grocery store and gas station. Makes it very easy not to overspend.

[Maru Kitteh]

6. I don't use my phone to talk to people-

I use it for DU

[CottonBear]

25. Me too!

I love texting. I rarely talk on the phone, except to my mom and my child.

I’m using my phone right now! 📲

[SMC22307]

8. Then they can be re-used to wrap packages, rather than...

buying rolls of brown paper.

[Totally Tunsie]

40. ...and covering schoolbooks too! This dino remembers doing that with paper bags.

[SMC22307]

47. Absolutely, I forgot about that!

Fellow dino here!

[brush]

9. Luddites forever. Woohoo.

[SamKnause]

10. I still use paper bags.

My mother shops at Kroger.

She saves her paper bags from Kroger for me.

I double them and they last on average 3 years.

I keep them in my vehicle.

I use them everywhere I shop.

I have been doing this for 15 years or more.

I hate the plastic bags.

You can pack a paper bag like a suitcase.

The only thing I use plastic bags for is my cat litter.

[Polybius]

12. Well, at least you love computers

I mean, how else would you post on DU without a smart phone?

[handmade34]

13. paper bag?

might want to try your own reusable

if it is for the environment...

paper:

-It doesn’t break down any faster than plastic in landfills. That’s because, while paper breaks down much faster under ideal conditions, landfills are not ideal conditions. The lack of light, air and oxygen means pretty much nothing decomposes, so paper and plastic are destined to spend equal amounts of time there.

-Paper bags are bigger than plastic, which means they take up more space in landfills. They’re recycled at a higher rate, which mitigates that fact, but that still means they still have a greater per-bag impact on landfills.

-It takes four times as much energy to manufacture a paper bag, as compared to plastic, and the raw materials have to come from trees, a natural resource that is otherwise carbon-fixing. Making paper bags not only adds waste to the world, it kills one of our greatest tools for fighting pollution.

-Paper bags generate 70 more air pollutants than plastic.

-They generate 50 times more water pollutants than plastic.
It takes 91 percent less energy to recycle a plastic bag than it does a paper bag.
Paper bags are very thick, so shipping them costs more fuel per bag.

[marybourg]

15. But paper can be used over and over as long as it

doesn’t get wet (and I live in the desert). I’ve been using my own cloth bags at the supermarket for about 35 years, but on the rare occasion when I get my hands on a paper bag, I always find multiple uses for it and I think I manage to keep it for 3-4 years before the handles rip off or it rips down the middle.

[stopbush]

19. Yep. I would add that the when it comes to the same number of bags - paper or plastic-

that hold the same volume, that paper bags create seven times the amount of waste by weight as do plastic bags.

[jimfields33]

30. Those cloth bags are not environmentally safe either

Washing machine full of water and soap every few days. Plus the children making them is not great.

[mr_lebowski]

52. I've never washed a cloth grocery bag, let alone every few days ... I use 'em for years, too ...

You must be a serious clean-freak

Precious few products are 100% environmentally safe ...

[abqtommy]

14. I recently got a large paper bag with handles at Smiths here in town. It was free for nothing

and allowed me to carry a heavy load to my car using only one hand. Plus it was free for nothing...
I've saved that bag, it may come in handy again...

WalMart is another story. I go bagless there since they started charging 10 cents each for their "new
improved" plastic bags. Of course all us bagless shoppers need to be scrutinized by two store employees as we exit instead of the former one employee. How's that working out for ya, Wally?

I keep some cash in my wallet to use for my own charitable reasons but for nearly all purchases I
make I use a debit card. I do write one check a month and occasionally for birthday/holiday gifts I mail out. (The apartments where we live only take checks or money orders as rent payment.) It's a simple matter for me to keep track of my credit union accounts online. That works for me. I don't know what my credit score is. I'm in long-time recovery from credit abuse in my younger days. If I don't have the dough then I don't go.

We adapt, we change (or not) and each of us as we see fit.

[stopbush]

16. That's Ok. We've been able to hack into all of your personal records and accounts

via your using a computer to post to DU.

Sincerely,

The Hackers

😱

[Squinch]

17. I use the net bag I remember my grandmother using. That sucker is amazing! It takes up no

room in a purse and holds three plastic bags worth of groceries.

[yonder]

33. I have a couple of those around here. I mostly use for produce.

[Generic Brad]

18. It's all fun and games until it rains

I was so happy when plastic bags became commonplace because before they came along I lost more groceries to puddles and mud than I care to remember.

[GusBob]

20. I use and save paper bags for various reasons

Now I have an extra supply of TP

[Enter Username Here]

22. Disposable Diapers Need To Be Next To Go...

I just looked up the impact DD have on the environment. Horrible!

[CTyankee]

46. My kids are so old they had cloth diapers...yes, they are in their 50s...

I had to rinse out the diaper (in the toilet) if pooped in. Holding on to the diaper, I just flushed off the poop. Then I put the diaper in the plastic diaper holder for washing later. IIRC, the holder was lined with a plastic bag so I could lift it out.

When my kids had kids they used disposable diapers of course.

[Enter Username Here]

49. Yep...

When I was a baby, I had a well worn hand-me-down crib, but Mom said that before that my "bassinet" was a drawer. No such thing as a changing table. Those were the days! Now baby supplies have to be a trillion dollar industry.

[maxsolomon]

29. Umm, where are your reuseable bags?

Reusable > Paper > Plastic.

[yonder]

32. I still hate phone calls, but have a smart phone nonetheless.

I haven't gone completely to the dark side in most other respects.

[LakeArenal]

34. Costa Rica Walmart did without bags of any kind without notice

Bought $200 (135,000 colones) worth and there were no bags except the reusable ones they sell. It was quite a shock. But once we had them, we use them. CR is going to ban them anyway.

As to Smart Phone. We didn’t think we needed Smart phones until we got one.
Love it. Mr Lake can find tutorials to fix anything, look up parts cuz we lost the owners manual, order parts and deliver them to our door while at the library returning books because I still like books better than Kindle.

[Wounded Bear]

35. I know the feeling...

The other day, I walked to the grocery store to pick up a few things. I'ts a nice healthy 1 1/4 mile or so walk. Got to checkout and it didn't strike me at first that all the bag holders for those plastic t-shirt bags were empty.

Thankfully, I had my re-usable bag with me, so no problem.

Other folks were a bit non-plussed. Thinking back, they had been warning us all month that it would kick in Mar 1st, and it did. I didn't always remember in the past to take my bag with me, though I'm getting a lot better. Hope I don't forget going forward. There didn't seem to be a lot of paper bags available either.

One down side. With no bags more people use their carts to haul their purchases to their cars and now there seems to be more shortage as you walk in. Oh well, I figure people will get used to it, including the store clerks whose duty it is to go collect carts from the lot.

[GulfCoast66]

48. We use nothing but paper bags and since we cook pretty much all meals

At home, we get lots. They are so useful.

We use the as our garbage can liner in the kitchen.

Put our yard waste on the curb into the because they can be composted with the waste.

Wrap frozen food in them when transporting in a cooler.

The wife will wrap presents in then tied with that straw looking string.

Dry onions and garlic on them.

Carry stuff to goodwill in them.

And many many more. I detest the plastic bags.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

51. My grocery store always has paper bags.

But now there's a city ordinance that requires them to charge for bags so I bring my cloth bags.