Trashy Is As Trashy Does...


It's hard not to expect cities of well over a million people, and in some cases MILLIONS of people to NOT have SOME trash somewhere...it's just accepted (not accpetable though). NYC used to have a HUGE problem...then they followed the broken window theory and came down harder on those littering. And the result was a vast improvement over decades past.

Trash, whether it comes in bottles, cans, or sundry cellophane and paper wrappers, is one of those situations where it's painfully obvious that we have more than enough to "go around". Yet we're constantly bombarded by those claiming that RECYCLING is GOOD for us...and it is. When I see a commercial that says the energy from an aluminum can can light a 60 watt bulb for several hours, well, I'm pretty damned impressed.

Then I look about the streets in my part of Fort Wayne, and realize there's some serious problems afoot. And personally, I can't see one single piece of trash that will go away simply because the city wants the Harrison Square project downtown...all the bricks made for that project couldn't begin to address the issue of littering in many other parts of the city. The main problem is that very FEW people around here (in my area, of course) recycle anything. And tossing a bottle onto someone ELSE'S property is not really close to being called "recycling", is it? The bins we received from the Solid Waste department become more akin to "auxiliary seating" when "da boyz" stop over (for a "blunt-fest") in the summer. And in the winter...well, let's just say I've seen kids using them in place of sleds and toboggans. Yes, it's all true! I could probably make a small forture catching all this crap on video (The Midwest's Most STOOPID People DVD...only $19.99...order NOW)!

And although I detest picking up after THEM, I (as a homeowner) DO like to have a nice looking property (for all that damn tax money the city SAYS the property's worth), and yet it seems to be sending the WRONG message to thess idiots; It's OK to toss crap onto HIS lawn...he'll always pick it up. City ordinances are there against littering, but the police have to (pretty much) SEE them do it (a waste of paper and ink then, yes?), so it's a case of an unenforceable law in about 99% of the instances. Of course when people do "short-dumping"...that CAN be addressed (and usually is). And even thinking about a confrontation over tossed trash (like asking them to pick it up) can result in seeing what kind of pistol the perps have recently straw-purchased at the local gunshop!

I'm all for some device a homeowner can deploy that launches the offensive trash BACK AT THE PERP....at about 400FPS! Now THAT would deter even the worst offender. Be interesting to see who shows up at the hospital with a bottle sticking out of their head (or ass)...LOL!

So much of what these people toss isn't EVEN biodegradeable....how long does it take a malt liquor bottle to either biodegrade OR become a relic that some future archaeologist will discover? You see my point. And please don't give me the line about a "poverty-stricken" area, or a "socially-disadvantaged people"...I'm not buying it. This happens all over, it's just that in the nicer neighborhoods, people in general don't take ANY crap from anyone else. In the poorer neighborhoods, it's better to allow trash to gather about to foster that stereotypical aspect of a blighted area. Sorry...tits on a bull time for me (regarding sensibility).

It amazes me to think that people are brought up (for lack of a better word) to be so damn slovenly in their mannerisms. I recall my parents chiding me by saying that "if we EVER catch you throwing paper or anything else in the street or sidewalks (we didn't see a real lawn except in pictures...lol), you won't be able to eat with those hands for a week". Sure it sounded dictatorial, and perhaps a tad abusive (by today's over-politically-correct mindsets), but let me say that when someone puts the FEAR OF GOD in you....you tend to comply...pronto.

So my generation was brought up with this odd value system; other people's property (and that goes for the city as well) is NOT a repository for YOUR personal trash. It is NOT your private "dumping ground". Wait until you get home to toss something away. Deposit bottles also went a long way to ensure that trash of that kind was kept to a minimum (collecting bottles to take back to the store for CANDY money...oh, yeah).

Today I see kids (obviously learning from their parents, if you can address them as such who don't know their ass from a hole in the ground, and probably use that hole as a toilet as well) that when they're done with that candy bar, toss that wrapper from their primate hand ASAP! Some will even look around to see if it's "OK" to drop it. When the older ones are done with that vodka, they toss that bottle in a nice "3-pointer" onto that guy's lawn across the street. And when that can of soda's gone, just fling it out the car window and watch it bounce in the street in your rearview. Yeah, that's fun....

It's becoming painfully clear that in order to bring some level of order (and cleanliness) to SOME people, it will have to be LEGISLATED (further) into law. And I don't mean the laws we have now that apparently do little if anything to halt this tide of trash around our streets. More stringent laws seem to be the ONLY way a lot of these idiots will understand that they can't do whatever the hell they want whenever the hell they want. We need new, more comprehensive laws with stronger punishments...like tons' of community service picking up trash throughout the ENTIRE city (and along the highways as well). Maybe after spending a lot of time picking up after OTHER PEOPLE, you might think twice when tossing that beercan NEXT time, eh?

I'm certainly not a huge fan of MORE government. But I am a huge fan of the Golden Rule. I just wish more people felt as strongly. Maybe then we'd be able to get on to tackling some real issues.

But until such time as these moronic litterbugs that infest our cities LEARN (or are MADE to learn) that their behavioral "nuances" will not be tolerated, we'll just have to keep things clean by using the best method we have right now....OUR OWN behavior.

We (I) teach by example, so others may learn.