debbie downer.

so, the election is less than a month away. i'm not even excited to vote at all anymore. partially because i live in alabama, which is very much a red state so my vote matters even less than others. but moreso, i am not even remotely stoked about either of the candidates at this point. i don't really think that obama is the beacon of integrity he is being painted as, but i fundamentally disagree with john mccain on a variety of topics. and i would shit if palin made it to the white house as the first female vice president, for a vast array of reasons.

i am starting to wonder how much of this economic crisis is just being perpetuated by fear mongering. it almost seems like a self-fulfilling prophecy at this point. i obviously realize that there are legitimate fears and problems, but the stock market correlates so much with the confidence of investors. i don't think it helps for increasing amounts of bleak predictions to be put into rotation by the media. or maybe i am just being naive, and we really are in a terrible global crisis. i am just deluding myself as a coping mechanism. either way, i am still having a hard time attempting to subdue my inner panic.

something else that has become increasingly irritating to me the more i think about it are those stupid fucking totes that say things like, "i am not a plastic bag" or "save the planet" or something else proving the carrier's moral superiority. don't get me wrong. i think it's wonderful to avoid plastic and love trees. the environment is not my number one concern, but i've never thought of being wasteful as an attractive quality. my issue with these bags is that they are primarily not grocery bags. they are sold in stores that don't even sell groceries. those reuseable cloth bags they do sell at grocery stores cost, like, a dollar, which seems extremely reasonable for something you use to carry your food purchases from the store to your house while being considerate of planet earth. the bags in question cost considerably more.

the thing is that when people buy these eco-friendly seeming bags, they really should be using them as a substitute to something that is damaging to the environment. otherwise the self-righteous proclaimation on the item itself just seems a little silly, not to mention douchey. my bet is that most people use their "tree hugger" tote to carry things such as a wallet, cell phone, lip balm (organic, i bet), gum, maybe some tampons, etc. when was the last time you saw a person with a home carry these items in a plastic bag? probably never. because women tend to contain these essentials in something called a purse, which is typically reusable and not made of plastic bags.

so use your non-plastic bag (that was probably produced by little vietnamese girls for 60 cents an hour) to carry your goddamned groceries and not personal items. because it makes you look like an asshole.