Rarely do I get upset from my findings, but this morning was a little bit different.
I decided to bring my son Alex along with me because he loves to help and be outdoors. I also hope that getting him involved with my projects will influence him to find a passion for helping people and the environment. Alex was a tremendous help (although he tends to be a space cadet like his mother, always off somewhere else in his mind--daydreaming). But just so we are clear, Alex was not at all what made me upset.
We had just started our trash pickup, when I headed to the end part of the parking lot and noticed a condom wrapper. I quickly picked it up, and placed it in the trash bag, out of sight of my 11 year old son--still calm as a cucumber. Then, I felt anger and disgust crawl up my spine as a few steps farther I found the contents of that wrapper laying on the ground.
Quickly, I redirected Alex to go search through the bushes for trash, while I grabbed a stick, picked up the "object" and then placed both it and the stick in my bag.
Look, I think littering in its self is pretty selfish. I find it lazy. But this--this is not only lazy and selfish, it is dangerous to leave on the ground for just anyone to find. My child and his friends happen to play in this very area all the time. What if, heaven forbid, one of them is curious and decides to touch it? What if they are barefooted and have a cut on their foot and step on it? What if the very thing you used for protection, now infected someone else because you couldn't dispose of it properly?
I'm not saying the person who did this has anything, there is no way to be sure of that. What I am saying, is that there was a trash receptacle maybe 10 feet away, and you careless decision could have been avoided.
Rant over (almost).
But you know what? That anger only pushed me to go farther today. We ended up picking up over 400 pieces of trash and it felt good to help.
Okay, rant officially over.
While picking up all 400 and something pieces of trash, I also managed to find 62 cents today!
I usually find a penny or two, but today I hit the jackpot...lol
Think what you will, but when I find that penny or nickel, I am usually getting tired and disgusted and I think this is God's way of saying that all my hard work will pay off in the long run.
I also managed to talk to one of the guys who actually are paid to pick up trash around here. This gentleman was a lot nicer than the last guy who I spoke to. I asked him if about the fine enforcement attached to littering and he said they have to actually be able to catch people (innocent until proven guilty), which makes it really hard to enforce. However, he did say they did manage to catch 2 people this past week--so all hope is not lost!
And I don't want people getting in trouble!!! That is not at all what my goal is. However, I want people to stop and realize their actions have much more impact on our environment then they think they do. Honestly, I just want people to stop being so lazy and gross! Is that too much to ask?
(Be kind Kelly, Be kind...woosah...woosah...lol)
Okay, well this has been a really random blog. I've got to go start getting myself ready for work this afternoon. I hope you all have a great day!
Thanks always for reading!
Be kind,
Kelly Airhart
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