Amy is mastering Japanese one emphatic phrase at a time. Her philosophy is that it's better to be able to say one thing with conviction than carry on a conversation with someone. For a long time, her phrase was arigatou gozaimasu (spelling corrected by Lily). This roughly translates to 'Thanks very much.' She said it to everyone but me.
Lately, however, her focus shifted. For the last several weeks, she has decided to master fukuro wa irimasen. For the astute readers out there, it means 'I do not want a bag.' It started out innocently enough, after we developed an escalating collection of plastic bags and could not dispose of them. When we went to the local co-op, she'd say fukuro iie (bag no). But lately it seems to be getting out of control. As her self-confidence with bag negation has grown, she has decided to accompany me to stores in the off chance that someone will gesture to a bag so she can scream fukuro wa irimasen. When the clerk backs off with a panicked expression, Amy's eyes get a little wild, a little glazed over, at the rush of endorphins that comes with having uttered a Japanese phrase in context. Every time I get off the couch, she sits up and demands "you going to the store? 7 Eleven? Co-op? Bags R Us?"
"Um no," I usually stammer. "I'm going on an exercise walk" (to 7 Eleven).
In part, Amy's obsession with 'bag no' comes from our burgeoning awareness that the Japanese are oversackers. I suspect that the bag lobby is extremely powerful here and may in fact have ties to the yakuza, because if you are not incredibly attentive every item you purchase at a store will be placed inside a bag which is then placed inside another bag. At times, items are first placed in bubble wrap before being double sacked. Sometimes, a sandwich purchase will also include a freeze pack to keep it cool and fresh, and all of that will end up wrapped in layers of plastic. Your ecological karma takes a serious whack every time you go to a 7 eleven.
I worry that Amy's habit may be hard to break; that when we return to Maine, she will compulsively yell fukuro wa irimasen while at Hannaford or during her Statistics lectures. If this happens to you, just back away slowly, avoid eye contact, and keep your hands away from any nearby bags.
