by Jerald woke up one morning and found himself drowning in a sea of styrofoam cups.
For years he had been warning his coworkers about the dangers of styrofoam cups and how it was detrimental to the environment — the disposable society in which they were living had a shelf life and he said that it was just a matter of time before they would all suffocate.
Whether five hundred years or a thousand years, he told them that all of their styrofoam and plastic products would be there for generation after generation after generation.
In effect, their great great great great great great grandchildren could easily go and visit the plastic based diapers from years ago — not that anybody would want to make such a visit.
Jerald struggled to swim in the sea of cups but he found himself slipping deeper and deeper — with not much chance of getting any fresh air.
From out of the corner of his eye, Jerald saw a glimmer of hope that had a yellow color to it — it seemed at first to be a ray of sunlight but he soon realized that it was a more solid yellow, like one of his favorite vegetables.
The yellow took the form of an ear of corn that lowered itself toward him, allowing him to grab hold of a kernel which acted as the first rung of a ladder to the top of the corn salvation.
An angelic figure, also seemingly made of corn, flew nearby and told Jerald about the wonders of compostable products including cups, spoons, knives, forks, and even plates — the perfect solution to all of his workplace problems.
Jerald woke up and excitedly got ready to go to work and told his coworkers all about the spectacular compostable products — when they found out that they cost more than the more traditional disgusting styrofoam, they quickly lost interest.
Jerald hoped that a day would soon come in which he could just get his coworkers to bring their own mugs to the office and wash them out instead of creating any trash whatsoever — but for now he had to settle for the hope that the angel in the form of the corn cob would save his office one day soon.
Well done, Gordon! We are drowning in a sea of styrene!
Thank you, David. Do you have a beverage mug with a long history to it? My favourite is the Harrod’s mug I bought in London in 1999 on my atypical vacation.
http://goinside.com/2001/02/24/a-veritable-vacation/
I have a Bedford/St. Martin’s coffee mug that the publisher gave me when I was teaching at Rutgers. It has all the autographs of every famous author they publish all over it. I cherish the mug, but I use it every day and it is a bit grimy by now.
True fact — Oxyclean powder left in the mug, filled with hot water and then left for a few hours will knock the grime right out of that mug. Rinse several times with hot water to clear out any remaining grime and Oxyclean.