(no subject)

So I'm shopping in Duane Reade, perusing the "feminine hygiene" section (which, in this store, shares an aisle with the contraceptives in the far back of the basement), and I pick up my product of choice. I bring it to the cash register, the cashier cheerfully rings it up, and then she bags it separately before adding it to the bag with the other items I purchased.

Why do they do that? Is it part of store policy, to separately bag anything having to do with reproductive organs in an additional white plastic bag, adding to the death of the environment but theoretically protecting the buyer from public...scorn? ridicule? acknowledgement that women do go through menses every month? that people attempt to engage in safe sex? or that we all have cho-chas and wee-wees? I don't get it.

I can see the puritanical mindset when it comes to, say, my purchases from Babeland. I don't want the folks on my train to know how exactly I'm getting my rocks off. But I don't mind if they know that I'm on my cycle. Or that I'm getting some. Wanna put that stuff in translucent bags with LEDs? Feel free. Just don't bother to waste the extra plastic on me.