Now don't get me wrong -- I'm nearly as green as most of the folks around here. I reuse and recycle as much as I possibly can, and Kurt and I manage to keep our trash down to one bag for a week because we recycle all our paper (most of our trash) and cans and plastic and our newspaper and the whole nine yards. When I am done with my clothes, if they no longer fit or I just don't wear them anymore, they go to Goodwill or some other kind of place where they will be reused.
I try my best to do things in a "green" way. I use Simple Green as my cleanser of choice, it being non-toxic and biodegradable, and I always select the proper size load for my washer in order not to waste water. I run my dishwasher only when it's full for the same reason.
I am also fairly liberal in my views. I personally don't like guns, and I believe the American public isn't smart enough to be able to control themselves with guns so we need some laws. I am also pro-choice because it's a much safer option than making abortion illegal and having women go back to having abortions in back alleys with knitting needles, and they themselves dying from infection.
So you would think I'd fit in just great with the granola-eating, Birkenstock-wearing (and yes, I own two pairs of Birks, and no, I do NOT wear them with socks like most people here) populace of the Northwest. But sometimes they just aren't the brightest bulbs on the Christmas tree.
For example: The way to get from my home to just about anywhere else is to use a state highway that's four lanes wide and has the same exit and entry ramps as an interstate. There is one exit ramp that has claimed the lives of two people in the last few months, the exit ramp just before the one I use.
Why did these people expire? The cars they were driving or riding in hit the guardrail, and the guardrail blasted through the vehicle and killed them.
Now there is a huge push to have that guardrail examined and possibly replaced because it is obviously a danger. Guardrails aren't supposed to plow through the cars that hit them and skewer the people inside.
Did I mention that both drivers of the cars involved were drunk???
Apparently, the reason a father killed his son and a man killed himself while going off this exit ramp has NOTHING to do with the alcohol in their systems, and everything to do with a possibly malfunctioning guardrail. So now folks want to rebuild the guardrail to make it more safe.
How about not drinking and driving?? Because I'll tell you -- I have gone off that exit ramp many times since I've lived there in order to go through town, and I have yet to come anywhere near the guardrail or to lose control of my vehicle.
Could it be because I simply wasn't drunk when I was operating my vehicle???