“Everyone can see the climate is changing,” she said, giving the pan a stir. “People my age worry the world’s all messed up and it’s too late to fix it. And now, even if it has numbers stamped on the bottom, they say most plastic isn’t recyclable.”

“The truth is, it probably never was recycled.” He shook his head. “And whose fault is that? Americans are terrible sorters. People were just throwing everything in the recycling bin and feeling virtuous. They thought someone on the other end knew all the rules and would figure it out for them. That’s why no country wants to take our plastic anymore, because most of it is really garbage.”

Bridget ran hot water and then filled the measuring cup to the amount Ajay had written down to make the basmati rice. “So you’re just going to leave me here all by myself and go down to sell plastic to poor countries that definitely won’t recycle it?”

He ran a hand down his face. “Look, Bridget, what do you want me to do? This is what I know. Do you think I want to be away from you? But I need to if I want to keep my job. And selling plastic beats not having a job at all.”

“What do you mean?” She put the pot on the burner, turned it on, and salted the water. “Are you worried about being fired?”

To her shock, he nodded.

“But you work so hard! That can’t be legal.”

“It doesn’t matter how hard I work if I don’t make my numbers. Sure, Triple P can’t fire me for being a man, or white, or a lapsed Lutheran. But firing me for not making my sales numbers? That’s totally legal.”

“It’s not fair!”

“Legal and fair can be different things.” He leaned against the counter. “Don’t you understand, Bridget? I have to do this for you. For us.”

AJAY

Sudden Turns of Fate

Ajay woke up when his mom and sister came home at six A.M. He pulled the pillow over his head, but it didn’t cover the sounds of their chatter and laughter as they exclaimed over their finds. Crazy people got up at four A.M. on Black Friday to save money. Indians got up at one A.M. on Black Friday and laughed smugly when the four A.M. crowd arrived and were forced to stand behind them in line and then pick through their shopping leftovers.