Recycling

As many of you know, I drink a lot of soda.  I know it's not good for me, I know it wrecks the enamel on my teeth - I know that the aspertame or whatever is in diet pop is going to make me die.  On the other hand, I don't have any other really bad habits (smoking, chewing, drinking heavily) so if I'm going to die by a "bad habit" please let it be Diet Coke.  I have seen cans of Diet Coke (Coke Light) in 6 packs, but that's as  big as they get.  Then you can buy the (almost) 20 oz bottle, but I have taken to getting Cola Light, and Sprite, in two litre bottles.  Liter - sorry - how very British English of me.  I had amassed quite a number of these bottles since I arrived here, and they were overtaking my pantry and the space behind my kitchen garbage.  I didn't know what to do with them, or where to take them.  And THEN, I found out that I get money back for them.  Apparently I'd been paying the deposit all along, but I got a whopping 60 Forint (30 cents) back for each one.  So - I asked my kids, and decided it was time to figure this out.  I went to TESCO with two bottles in my bag - (never mind that I had over 50 of them at home) and went in search of the "machine" that one uses to recycle bottles.  It was in the far corner of TESCO - but once I knew kind of what I was looking for, it was a bit easier.  I took my two bottles to the machine, and slid them in the hole that was at about eye level for me.  The machine scanned them, and then reported that I was to get 120 Forint off my total bill.  Score - this was easy!  Of course, I only brought two because knowing me, I would jam something and then I'd be stuck with 20 bottles to walk around with, and I think that would be frowned upon.  At any rate, pumped for my success, I tried again at the Spar in town.  I didn't want to have to report to TESCO every time I wanted to get rid of some bottles.  So, two more in the bag, 120 more Forint.  Easy as pie.  The NEXT time, I brought 12 bottles, and managed to jam and break the machine.  Now, at TESCO, it would not really be noticed because you're out of the way of many of the shoppers where there machine is placed.  At the Spar however, you're in the middle of the Dairy department, and a white light flashes and a siren goes off if you've fed too many or there is something wrong.  UGH.  So, I got my ticket that said how much money I got, and took the one bottle I had left and ran.  Some grocery attendant had to go to the back behind the machine and adjust whatever was off kilter, and then come to the front of the machine, unlock some stuff and then re-program it.  After she finished, I slinked back toward the machine and gave it my last bottle, grabbed the slip and ran.  The next time, I had another 15 bottles, and fed them in just as fast so people wouldn't stare - which "broke" the machine again.  I was only half way through this time, so I manned up and stood there while all the necessary corrections were made.  After about 4 more trips, I successfully got rid of the saved stash of 2 liter bottles, and cleared out some significant space in my pantry.  I now take three or four at a time, so I run very little risk of actually breaking the machine.  Victory once again - though it took 9 months...