Litter Bug

While waiting for a connection at a train station not long ago, I sat on a bench. Next to me sat three teenagers. They were giggling and talking loudly and eating fast food. One after the other, they threw their trash on the ground behind or beside the bench. First paper wrappers for straws and hamburgers, then cardboard containers that had held fries and onion rings, next came the used napkins, and finally the cups and cans the teens had been drinking from. They did this despite the fact that there was a trash can not more than three feet from where they were sitting.

Those teens weren’t the only ones I’ve seen littering in recent times; people of all ages seem to think that walking a few steps to a garbage can is too much trouble, so they throw things to the ground outdoors and inside buildings, or out of car or train windows, or they even just spit gum or other unwanted items from their mouths to the pavement. I am not sure who they think is cleaning up after them, but I wish they would take responsibility for their own garbage. It’s disgusting, disrespectful, and deleterious.

--Curly