Deposit charges for beverage cans and bottles seemed like a good idea at first. Of course, the same might have been said about the Hindenburg, the Ford Edsel and New Coke. The plan in Iowa was to reduce unsightly roadside litter and make the state a little more like Kevin Costner’s idea of heaven in "Field of Dreams." Entire sections of people’s garages became bottle and can collection centers, where containers were dutifully drained, sorted and stored. Periodically the containers were carted off to local stores for their five-cent refunds. Loading up the car trunk with bottles and cans and driving to the store may seem like a lot of work for something like $2.10, but it’s a small price to pay to keep a state beautiful and attractive. Most of us probably know very little about the container deposit systems in the other states with names abbreviated on the tops of our soda cans — CA, MI, OR, NY, CT, MA, VT and ME. For all we know, their container refund systems may be perfect. But the beverage container deposit system in Iowa has become so outrageously complicated that a person in another state, such as Rhode Island or Idaho, should think twice before driving there and making a small fortune in deposit money. When the system was first put in place, bottle and can returnees were treated graciously and with open arms at liquor and grocery stores. The only rules were that the containers had to be clean, not crushed, and they couldn’t be transported in plastic bags. An honor system was in place and if the store employees knew you by name, they would simply smile and ask, "How many cans do you have today?" Because of apparent criminal tendencies in the population, store employees eventually had to count the bottles and cans as they emptied cardboard boxes and paper bags into other cardboard boxes and paper bags. It was all right, though, because it was the law and it was keeping the state beautiful. And then more local rules were added. Customers, now disdainfully treated like lowly pond scum, have to line up their own bottles and cans in cardboard flats for counting purposes and pray that they and their containers will appear refund-worthy. Some stores impose a limit of 50 returned containers for each trip. Implications are made by other businesses that returns should be accompanied by additional purchases. Iowa may be more scenic, but the container deposit plan is now pitting store employees against customers and shopping experiences seem much less pleasant. In only a matter of time, customers hoping to receive their bottle and can refunds will be required to conform to certain dress codes, speak obscure languages and undergo lie detector tests. "Tell us the truth, did you pay deposits on these cans, or did you find them in some roadside ditch? Are you trying to make a fast dime?" It’s time to decriminalize the act of returning bottles and cans for deposits. If it’s a state law, businesses should comply. If they don’t want the hassle of handling bottles and cans and returning deposit money which rightfully belongs to their customers, they should stop selling the beverages. Profit losses aside, it would be a simple answer.