Give a Hoot

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and all that…

It’s been quite a while since I’ve had a chance to post. I tried to keep up during kettles, I really did. But that was one fight I was destined to lose. Then I spent a restful week with my family, much of it in New Hampshire with no internet access (or snow, unfortunately). I’ve been back for a few days, waiting for the inspiration to post. It came today in all too common form.

I was walking down Broad St. toward my apartment when I noticed a woman about twenty feet ahead of me drop something. I scooped up what appeared to be an airline luggage routing label, or something of the like. It seemed more than safe to simply throw it away, but that was not a chance I was willing to take.

Ma’am, you dropped something.

“Oh. Yeah, I meant to drop that.”



Oh.

You meant to drop it.

As in, I’m sorry for the confusion sir, but lest you think otherwise that piece of trash did not slip from my bag without my knowledge or intent. Rather, I just put it on the sidewalk because I’m too ignorant and lazy to dispose of it properly.

As in, you meant to drop it.

Oh.



I didn’t say anything. I just continued on my way carrying this one piece of trash through a neighborhood filled with it, where littering is quite literally a way of life, where people do not think twice about using the street as a garbage can. And when I got home, I threw it away. I’d love to look at this as an inspirational, starfish on the beach, “it makes a difference to this one” piece of trash kind of tale, but that’s a bit implausible. My only real hope is that this woman felt the slightest twinge of embarrassment, so that she will think twice, if only for a second, before she means to drop something else. Considering I’m up against a probable lifetime of counter-conditioning, this may be a bit ambitious.