Becoming Me-Upside Down: Being Green

Hi, my name is Leslie.

I drink green beverages from Starbucks and I use an electric lawn mower.

The green beverage is an Iced Green Tea Nonfat Latte - Unsweetened.

I think I might possibly be the only one who orders this particular drink - me and a friend, whom I introduced it to.

I don't even remember how it started.

I think I wanted a green tea latte one day, but was in the mood for something cold to satisfy my thirst, so I decided to order it on ice, and .........................................................................................VOILA!

A NEW DRINK WAS BORN.

People ask me all the time,

" What IS that you're drinking? "

After all, it IS a suspicious looking green drink.

It's particularly amusing to see the reactions of some of the Starbucks employees, when I place my order.

Their faces become all twisted and distorted,
like in one of those carnival mirrors,
and their eyebrows raise to a point,
disappearing in the creases of their foreheads.

They don't say anything, as if they THINK they are being discrete,

but I know what they are thinking -

"What the ^*#^ did she just order? ! !"

......and when they call the order over to the barista,

instead of a statement, it is in the form of a question.

Remember doing that in school?

The teacher would present a problem and, feeling unsure and insecure, the answer would be in the form of question.

Teacher : "Leslie, give me the the product of 12 and 9."

Me :          "One hundred and..........................eight ? "

Starbucks "order taker" (to barista) : " Venti green tea iced nonfat latte, unsweetened ? ? ? "

........and they say it really slow, too.

          "V-e-n-t-i     G-r-e-e-n     t-e-a     i-c-e-d     n-o-n-f-a-t     l-a-t-t-e
                                                          u-n-s-w-e-e-t-e-n-e-d     ?  ? ? "

The funniest question was asked the other day, by a man who over-heard my order.

" How do you get a nonfat green tea? Isn't tea already nonfat? "

He obviously was just a rookie. I explained to him that the nonfat part comes from the latte - skim milk instead of whole.

As for the lawn mower............................

When I signed the lease on my house over two years ago, I was determined to mow my own lawn,
but I absolutely CANNOT tolerate the fumes that result from gas powered lawn tools,
and I also liked the idea of being environmentally conscious, so I dragged a friend along with me,
and went to the local Home Depot, in search of the

PERFECT ELECTRIC LAWN MOWER.

It was relatively easy to make a selection,
for there weren't many to choose from,
and, like the Starbucks employees,
the Home Depot employee who pointed them out to me was laughing on the inside -

I am sure of it.

That made no difference to me.

I took my mower out of the box, and introduced myself, and we have been together, ever since.

As with any new relationship, it took a few times around the "yard" before we could find our "groove" and feel comfortable with one another.

Figuring out the perfect path, while finagling with the extension chord, was a bit tricky, at first. I was not used to this.

BUT, my mower is ...................

Quiet
It does the job
And it doesn't smell bad.

What more can a girl ask for?

AND it's a lot like vacuuming, and I have had a lot of experience with vacuuming, over the years.

When I tell people that I have an electric lawn mower, I usually get the same reaction -

"REALLY ? ? ? "

I am SURE that my neighbor (across the way) - the one that was THRILLED about the holiday lights still garmenting my house in the month of February........................is quite entertained by my lawn mowing skills,
             as I lasso the extension chord around trees and over bushes.

He pays people to mow his grass.

I have bonded with them, over the last couple of years, as occasionally,
                                                                     our lawn mowing days meet up.

We smile and nod to one another - one lawn mower to another.

Of course, in the time that it takes me to unwind the extension chord and plug it in,
they are done mowing, and off to their next job.

But that's okay.

There is satisfaction in mowing my own yard with my own electric mower.

I think I will go order myself a "Venti Iced Green Tea Nonfat Latte, Unsweetened",
                                                  and then, mow the grass.

Like Kermit the Frog, it's not always easy being green.......................

                                     BUT TOTALLY WORTH IT.