Properly Awry

There's always gotta be something to piss me off.

I try to be as green as possible, I carry at least 1 fabric bag around with me on a regular basis in case I stop at the grocery store on the way home.  When we go to the market or butcher we always bring several bags so we don't have to use any from the store.  I get it that some grocery stores charge you 3cents for a plastic bag and some grocery stores now only have annoying handle-less paper bags, no plastic at all (don' they know paper bags + rainy Vancouver don't really work together?).  I like that my Thrifty's gives me 3cents for each bag I bring in and use each time I buy groceries.  I was mildly annoyed when Ikea decided they would not have bags at all, but they advertised it in advance, and so now I try and come prepared, though if I stop there unplanned it can be very annoying to not even be able to pay 3cents for a bloody bag. 

I went to The Bay at lunch today and bought 2 shirts, I thought it was a bit odd when the girl asked if I wanted a bag, as I wasn't carrying any other bags, just my purse.  So I said yes, I need a bag, I mean it's raining outside, and did she expect I was going to walk out with 2 shirts and a receipt in my hand?  I mean, if I already had a bag from another store, I would never take a bag, if the stuff I'm buying fits into the bag I already have I always say no to the plastic bag.  She told me the bag would cost me 5cents.  5 motherfucking cents for a very small plastic bag, not really a bag that can be reused, except maybe for dog crap. 
How many people do you know go into a department store to buy clothes, or makeup, shoes or even a friggin coffee machine and bring their own bags with them?  How many tourists shop in the downtown Bay on a daily basis?  Are they rally going to be carrying bags around with them? The Bay is not a grocery store,  charging 5cents (not 2cents or even 3cents) for a bag at a store like The Bay is basically robbery and a flat out money grab. 
Maybe, instead of inconveniencing customers by having no bags, or pissing us off by robbing us blind if we forgot to bring our own bag, these stores should concentrate on saving the planet by putting a stop to ridiculous packaging practices.  Why is everything wrapped in plastic?  Why are so may things still surrounded by styrofoam? Why are so many things packages in boxes that are twice the size of the product inside?  Why is there still such a thing as disposable razors - or disposable anything?  Less packaging wold mean less garbage and less need for bags overall.