A short story in 3 parts. Part I: Cheryl
The alarm sounds, but Cheryl hits the Snooze button. The radio news mentions an Australian paddle-boarder who is soloing an ocean clean-up, somewhere Down Under. Cheryl’s aunt lives in Australia; it occurs to her briefly that they could go and visit her this winter, instead of their usual winter-sun escape to Tenerife.
Cheryl relishes her morning shower; another delicious moment she gets to herself before being there for everyone else – the kids, Neil, the colleagues. The shower-gel bottle is nearly empty; she makes a mental note to buy new when she pops to the supermarket on her way home. When she was little, they used soap, in the bath – good old Imperial Leather, she can still smell it now. She hasn’t used soap since then – it somehow belongs to a different era, filled with old people who wear beige macs. Besides, the gel is so convenient.
At the same time as fixing breakfast for the kids, she prepares their lunch boxes. She likes to be in control of what they eat. A yoghurt, because it’s good for them, and a bottle of fruit juice each. she silently congratulates herself for discovering those pre-packed sachets of fresh fruit at her local supermarket: sliced apples and grapes, the perfect healthy snack. And the wrapper does away with all the messy washing and cutting at home, it’s ever so convenient.
On her way to the office, Cheryl stops at the coffee shop and treats herself to a tall skinny latte. She has a meeting first thing and doesn’t want to show up all bleary. According to a small sign at the till, she could get 5p off if she brought her own cup – but then, Cheryl hadn’t planned to go buy a coffee when she left home. The coffee shop has a special deal on, so she throws in a millennium shortbread for good measure. It’s nicely wrapped, so she won’t end up with sticky fingers. The attendant serves her the whole order all neatly stacked in a little paper bag, which she can later use to bin the empties. It’s all so convenient.
The canteen at Cheryl’s office is quite well-stocked, offering a wide range of sandwiches in neatly-stacked rows of plastic triangles, as well as hot food. Conscious of her waist, Cheryl carefully selects a chicken salad on wholemeal and a bottle of spring water. There is a water fountain next to the till, which Cheryl could use if she brought her own bottle – but she has already that many things to try and think of each morning, with the kids and all. She is also secretly suspicious that some distasteful people might drink directly from the fountain – a suspicion which has never been proven right. Because she always eats at her desk, the packaging goes into the bin under her desk. There is a separate bin for plastics down in the canteen; but the bin under her desk is more convenient.
After picking up the kids from school, Cheryl stops by the supermarket. They have an offer on chicken drumsticks, the girls’ favourite, so she picks up two packs. If she went to the fresh counter, she could bring her own containers to buy meat or fish, but it’s just not convenient schlepping them, and besides, she always forgets. Her local butcher wraps meat in paper – and is open until six every day; but she doesn’t know that, because buying all her groceries in one central place is more convenient. The girls need fresh fruit and unanimously choose a selection box of different summer berries, attractively packaged in separate little sections within a plastic box. It’s good that they are so keen o fresh fruit, child obesity being what it is. And she will make sure she puts the tray in the plastic recycling bin outside. The council will empty it next Thursday; it’s quite convenient.
Flopping down in front of the telly next to Neil, who is busy polishing off the contents of a plastic tray of choc-chip cookies, Cheryl congratulates herself on successfully making it through another mad busy day. Before Cheryl’s favourite soap, the TV pre-announces a special documentary about a plastics waste site somewhere in China. Helping herself to a well-earned cookie, little does Cheryl realise that she and her family are slowly turning the planet into a public convenience.
image: view from St. Patrick's Chapel, Heysham, by MartiAn.