Leaves? Raked
Trash? Picked up
Flower Beds? Prepped and ready to go... but wait... this one comes with a tale.
I was digging in one of the new flower beds out back and discovered something that was funny, yet kind of disturbing at the same time.
"Earthdays™" Happy Meal tray
I typed "McDonald's Earth Days" into Google and found a reference to it at secinfo.com (you know, cuz I'm thorough like that) and according to the document on file there, it was a Happy Meal promotion run in conjunction with the National Audubon Society and launched in April... of 1994.
©1993 McDonald's Corp - why did they wait until '94?
Now I'm sure some of you are expecting me to start relentlessly ripping on McDonald's, but no. That was the mid-ninty's and recycling was all the rage back then... or it was starting to be, anyway. I just find it funny that this corporate experiment in recycling and childhood education on the subject wound up being buried in my backyard for probably all of the 16 years since it was purchased, and came out in such good condition. Knowing my kids, it was probably crushed before it was buried.
The sad fact is, we are leaving more evidence of our existence than any other generation ever in Earth's history. Future archeologists will be digging up these "artifacts" and trying to figure out what cultural significance something like this might have had.
*Insert wavy, foggy "let's go to the future" special effect here*
"We believe this was a vessel of some sort used in a bizarre ritual known as 'EarthDays' as the markings on it translate to. 'EarthDays' were an aboriginal celebration for the god known as 'Mother Nature' depicted here by the rounded 'M' symbol, most likely representing her breasts. This container was probably used to hold an offering of some sort, perhaps the blood of a small mammal."
Oh come on now, you KNOW our trash will outlive all our best attempts at permanent data storage. We're hard pressed to play back stuff from 30 years ago... now fast-forward 300 years.. or a thousand. Or ten thousand. At some point in our future, some shmoe will dig up something as simple as a plastic laundry basket and assume the porous structure was to let the blood easily flow out. Because you know, everything in history has a bizarre sacrificial or sexual ritual attached to it when you have no idea what it's real use was.
But I digress.
Finding this in my yard has really got me thinking that maybe, just maybe, I should start doing more to ensure things get properly recycled and reused. Congratulations, McDonald's. I wasn't in your target market for that campaign and it took 16 years, but someone learned something from it.
Now all I need to know is what the hell this tray was for? I'm thinking blood containment.
I really love this post. You have a wonderful way of combining humour and social commentary. I'm envious of that. I'm also envious of a couple of other things, too.
ReplyDeleteOne, you have weather nice enough to start doing yardwork. I love the crackling sound of leaves. It's one of my favourite sounds, ever.
Two, you find things in your yard more interesting than dog poop. Because no one wants to read a blog entry on dog poop, which is all me and my yard would have to offer. :(
Great post! :)
Luckily, I found that *after* I found the remains of a bird, probably left by one of the cats. Would have been a whole different entry.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you enjoyed it and thank you for the kind words. :-)
Great post, I find the same things in my yard but they are only from a year or two ago. My children have this thing where they just can't pick up their stuff and bring it inside when they are done playing outside.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the plastic earthday thing was totally used to bury the bird as a sacrifice to Earth!