I went to nearby Taqueria D.F. last night to get a takeout burrito for dinner, and inadvertently caused a bit of a scene by bringing my own container from home. (They have tasty food, but normally use those nasty styrofoam containers that blow my carbon footprint way out of proportion.)
The woman who took my order gave me an amused but pleasant smile when I asked if she could put my order in the container. As I sat and waited, a gregarious pair of older guys in at the table in the corner who obviously just hang out there all the time chatted away in Spanish and talked in broken English to the couple Anglo regulars who came in. When the lady emerged with my sturdily-packaged burrito, one of the guys asked me (in a friendly way) if I use my own container in order to keep the food warm. Responding to his incomplete English in only somewhat more complete Spanish, I said "Estoy tratando conservar...uh...." [confused looks] "...el medio ambiente y todo."* Which was the perfect opportunity for the gregariousness to spring into action for a short impromptu speech about how everybody, including him, talks talks talks talks talks [with hands moving to illustrate flapping mouths] about the environment, but here I am doing something about it! Bringing my own container! At which point I think everyone in the place was looking at me...it wasn't really uncomfortable, but I wasn't really sure what to say (or how to say it), so I just smiled, thanked him and left. But I think I had better bring my own container again next time I go, or I'll get razzed...
*Roughly, "I'm trying to conserve...the environment and all that."
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