Hip Hippie Hooray

There are times when I like to kid myself that I could pass for being a hippie, or at least moderately bohemian. Some of these times are when I am dressed more casually and shopping with my environmentally friendly reusable grocery bags and thinking about my membership in greenpeace. Yesterday was not one of these days. I was dressed for work, which is casually professional. I can't see them ever yelling at me for anything I would wear, but I like to dress kind of nicely considering I enjoy my job and would like to keep it. Yesterday, I decided to go grocery shopping between two stints of hours I was working (it's nice being the fill in person). I did have my environmental bags and my backpack, but otherwise looked somewhat like Professional Annika, not Bohemian wannabe Annika. I shopped quickly and had my coupons ready at checkout. This was the first time, however, that I had brought my backpack (because I was planning on buying pears, potatoes, and kumara which start to add up, weight wise) so I was fumbling while trying to shove these bulking fruits and vegetables into my backpack. Every time I would inch a bit forward, the woman behind me would sigh and inch her cart up to my butt. Goodness' sake, woman, I am not hindering your checkout process! Then she started muttering stuff incoherently except for one loud burst of "Hippie!"

I broke into a bemused smile and said, "Excuse me?" I didn't think there was any way on God's green earth that she was talking about me. She said, "Why don't you just get the regular bags like everybody else??" I said, "Well, it's actually that I can't fit these potatoes in my backpack. Sorry, I'll try to hurry it up." (Quite generous of me, if you ask me.) "What? Are you walking?? Too good for a car?" I was completely taken aback. I had no idea if she was just trying to be chatty, but happened to be naturally gruff or if she was just angry at some hippie and I was just in her way. I responded, "Well, I live like less than ten blocks from here. Might as well walk, I guess." She just angrily muttered to herself some more and I looked at the woman who had bagged my groceries for some indication of what was going on. We just shrugged at each other and I went on my hippie, tree-hugging way.

I mean, a real hippie would acknowledge that I am totally a poser. I might be a vegetarian who uses reusable grocery bags, but please. That hardly makes me a card holding member of the group. Either way, I was proud that my refusal to adhere to the system (ie- using reusable bags, buying my organic vegetables, walking my groceries home) messed with her day. I'd like to take credit for just once using passive resistance and making a difference. Even if the impact was just pissing off some angry lady, I'm still proud of my "hippie" ways that are the closest I will ever get to protesting.