People Are Strange,

when you're a stranger....

OK, so I'm not a stranger, but sometimes this is a strange place. Today I had to go buy coffee (long story, but for some reason I'm incapable of either making a shopping list or remembering that I need coffee filters when I go shopping. Hence no coffee at home, hence buying coffee at work).

Anyway, as I was walking to the coffee shop, I see a young woman, well dressed, heading towards the entrance of one of the "mixed use" buildings near my work: shops on the ground floor, and a mix of offices and apartments on the upper floors. As she got to the door, she paused, and took not one, not two, but three newspapers out of her satchel, still in their plastic bags, and put them in the trash container next to the entrance.

Now, this just got me thinking. And, yes, got the tree-hugger/stop-global-warming/environmentalist in me irked. Why on earth would she be doing this? Most residences have recycling, even apartments. Most businesses have recycling opportunities. Heck, in Chapel Hill you can frequently walk down a street and find a place to recycle. Why would you throw them away? And why go to the bother of BRINGING THEM WITH YOU TO WORK before you throw them away? Is it the anonimity? Maybe her garbagemen are rabid environmentalists, and strew recyclables that wind up in her trash across her yard?

Or, is it something more sinister???? I finally came to the conclusion that she's in an argument with a neighbor, and sneaks out early each morning to steal his paper. Not wanting to leave an evidence trail, she then stores them in her car till she can dispose of them at work, but not in the main recycling bin, where she might be discovered.

OK, so maybe not.....