Today, for the first time in recent memory, I went to a McDonald's. Well, I didn't go, exactly. I used the drive-up window. I was leaving my parents' house and didn't have time to grab anything before I left, because my goal was to leave as soon as possible after the girls ate lunch so we could make it home before they got hungry again or needed a diaper change. There was a McDonald's with a drive-through window in town, right near the highway entrance, and since I couldn't easily get out of the car to get, say, an organic, vegetarian sandwich from a locally-owned business, I did the arches. A grilled chicken sandwich and -- because they're just so damned good, and if you're going to sin, sin gloriously -- an order of fries. No beverage. (See previous post).
I am generally not cool with fast food, environmentally or nutritionally speaking. I think it sucks that for a lot of Americans, fast food is the most affordable, most convenient choice. Since reading and teaching Fast Food Nation while I was in grad school, I avoid McDonald's and the like almost completely. But today, I found myself reasoning: "Hey, I'm alone with twin babies and I'm hungry and tired. This is the only place where I can get food without getting out of the car. It's OK to cut myself some slack, just this once."
And it is, I guess. But it did make me think anew about how tricky it is to draw those lines -- the common good vs. convenience and sanity -- where babies are concerned. It's easy to talk yourself out of doing the more environmentally/socially responsible but difficult thing when you've got a kid or kids to think about.
Cloth diapers, for example. We could have done cloth diapers. It wouldn't have killed us. It would have been an up-front investment, and perhaps a little bit inconvenient at times. But we cried "twins!" and used it as our excuse to go the disposable route. So, we're lazy and irresponsible, right? (That is, if you belive cloth is better than paper.)
On the other hand, we DO use the more-expensive Seventh Generation disposables, and we make most of our own baby food to avoid all that packaging and processing. And our babies wear almost all second-hand clothes. So, we're good, right?
But on the third hand, I've started driving to work instead of taking the T since the babies were born, we keep the house warmer for their sake, and we do about twice as much laundry and dishes as we used to. So, we're....hypocritical? Hopeless? Human?
I'm going to go with human. And, as such, perpetually inconsistent, conflicted, and not quite good enough. But trying as best we can.
One more rationalization, though? Not really an environmental one, but a caloric one: I bet the high sodium content of the fries was a good way to keep me retaining water and, thus, not having to stop and pee on the way home. (See previous post.) So I pretty much HAD to get them. Come to think of it, I probably should have gotten one of those deep-fried apple pies, too...
