Thursday, July 16, 2009

Trash

I don't know if I'm being overly sensitive, but since I got back from vacation last week I've been noticing a lot more trash along the roadside than I remember. Cups, plastic pop bottles, empty cigarette cartons, broken glass seem to be every where lately. I even had to dodge a television set in the low light this morning on my way to work.

I wish I could make people stop littering, but I don't know how. There's a line from the movie Bruce Almighty where Morgan Freeman's character, God, tells Bruce, "Be the change you want to see in others". A great bit of wisdom, but at the moment, I can't figure out how to model that change.

I have found some useful stuff, the latest being a 25' measuring tape in excellent condition. On a positive note, there seem to be more people out picking up aluminum cans, so I don't see too many of those along the roads.

Hope your rides are all trash-free!

4 comments:

Doohickie said...

Amen.

331 Miles said...

Their mamas didn't raise them right. The one that gets me the most is one of the smallest: the cigarette butt. Take a bad habit, then compound the problem by throwing out lit material. In the city, the curbs near intersections are clogged with the cancerous trash.

Oldfool said...

You are seeing what has always been there. The world is littered. Even poor countries have litter. Baja California is covered in plastic bags. The pacific ocean has everything but what you see everyday are Styrofoam cups. I saw at least a dozen a day in 1984.
I am not popular in my neighborhood because I raise hell with anyone that I see if they so much as flick a bugger on the street in front of my house. That goes for adults and kids. Needless to say not much is dropped here now.

Big Oak said...

O.F. - I know you are right. Trash has probably been around as long as people have. What is troubling, though, is the amount of oil and other resources we are wasting so that we can have our soda pop which lasts for 20 minutes.

331 - cigarette butts bug me too. A running buddy of mine (almost 30 years ago) saw a fellow toss out a butt on one of our runs. He picked the butt up and flicked it back in the car. A dandy argument ensued, but fortunately, no one took any swings.