A night or two after Bill and I moved into Wind Crest, we went down to dinner. We had made reservations but arrived quite early. At that point, we didn’t know the ins and outs of maneuvering the reservation system. At any rate, the restaurant staff — all of whom are high school students who work at WC — were very nice and asked if we minded sitting with another couple. Given that the alternative was to wait some time for a table, along with the fact that we were interested in meeting new people, we said we would be more than happy to share a table.

As we walked towards the table, I began to judge the couple before we even sat down. They didn’t look interesting and would probably provide boring company. In a lesson about judging books by covers (something I frequently do with ACTUAL books), the two people ended up being not only extremely pleasant, but very interesting. In fact, HE had been an astronomist in his professional career. She too had been a well-educated professional person but I can’t recall her career because ASTRONOMIST.

As the dinner progressed, the woman began pulling out storage containers from the sizable bag she carried with her. There were little jars and small-sized plastic tupperware containers. She looked at me and pointed out that every day that we eat a meal, we pay for a soup, a salad, two side dishes, an entree, and dessert. The price doesn’t change, she explained, if we choose to not eat soup AND a salad. No dessert doesn’t translate to a smaller bill. So both she and her husband order everything they are allowed to order, and take what they don’t want to eat home in the containers for breakfast or lunch the next day. By bringing her own containers, she wasn’t contributing to the problem with waste.

Wow. I wanted to be disgruntled, but I was too busy thinking that she was brilliant. I mean, he might be the astronomist, but she’s getting the most out of their money, and that’s no small thing. It isn’t cheap to live in our nice digs.

As the days and weeks have progressed, I have noticed that she is certainly not the only one who is bringing food home in containers they have brought to the restaurant. As I look around, many couples have large bags sitting on the floor beside their chairs that undoubtedly contain storage containers.

I will admit that I am taking baby steps towards that process. I confess that I have ordered soup and a salad, knowing full well that I’m going to take the salad home to eat for lunch with some tuna salad that I will make. Ordering dessert isn’t something that I thought I would regularly do, but if I take it home, Bill has dessert for lunch the next day and that makes him happy.

I still haven’t brought in my own containers, but I have been eyeing my many cloth bags that I have accumulated over the years and that managed to make the cut to move to WC.

Baby steps.