Paper and Plastic

Today after school I walked into the kitchen and was met by my mother, who immediately asked me in a very pedantic way if I was the one responsible for the empty Easy Mac box waiting in the recycling pile. Of course I was, and I promptly informed her of the fact. Then she looked all annoyed and told me in a particularly nasty tone that I had to take it out to the recycle bin right away or else.

Now, in our house we have a system where on even days I take out the recycling and on odd days it's my sister's turn. In the spirit of equality and fair play I politely informed her that today was the 25th, which by all the standards I'm aware of constitutes as an odd-numbered day. Therefore, I reasoned, it was my sister's turn to do the recycling.

"Well you shouldn't just leave recycling around for your sister to take care of!" she yelled. "That's not very fair, is it!? It's her turn, but you still have to take out your own recycling!"

Obviously I noticed quite a number of severe logistical problems with this remark, but to escape further excoriation I was forced to obey.

My only question now is that if everyone does their own recycling, where did the rest of the cans and boxes waiting to be taken out come from?