Society: September 2005 Archives

Do you litter? I know that I don't litter, and I am quite aware of what I throw away. Apparently I don't hang out with people that litter, either, because none of them litter. That's what they claim, plus I've never seen them litter. I'm wondering who's doing all the littering, though. I asked seven people here at work two questions.

1. Do you litter, even sometimes?
2. Do you know anyone that does?

Not a single one of them claimed that they littered, or knew anyone that did.

But apparently there are many excuses for littering. For example, if you throw away an apple core in a park, it's okay because it's biodegradable and a squirrel might pick it up. If you leave your newspaper somewhere, like on the metro, it's okay because chances are, someone will want to read it. Do these things count as littering?

Rose and I went to a kids park with Petunia two weeks ago. There was garbage everywhere near the entrance. Now it's possible that the garbage cans which were right there were full, but somehow I doubt this. It was a Sunday morning, which meant that possibly the night before, neighbourhood punks were making a mess in the area. I hated the sight of all this garbage in an otherwise nice little park.

I don't think that people realize the impact that littering has on the urban environment. The dirtier a place is, the more unlivable it becomes. It might be true that you are simply going to work, in drone mode, and not paying attention to anything else, therefore it doesn't matter to you what is lying on the ground. That, unfortunately, is symptomatic of a much larger problem, but that's for another post. The immediate thing is that if there is more crap lying around everywhere, then we will earn a reputation around the province as being a bunch of irresponsible pigs living in a dirty smelly city, and evenutally people from the rest of the world will get sick of our grime and stop coming here unless they want a cheap place to make a movie about a crappy city.

I don't want to live in such a place. I'm not the cleanest person, but I know that I do not litter. Ever. So take the time to ask the people around you if they litter and if they know anyone that does or has recently. Ask them not to, and they just might not. If won't hurt to ask.

You know how some women get pregnant (usually only the first time) and start to believe that they are goddesses? Like Lilith Sternin-Crane in one episode of Cheers, if you could remember that. Anyway, I'm talking about the ones that emit a phony air of superiority and condescension that appears only when pregnant or nursing. They sometimes turn into hyper bitches, or mega-dependent to the point where even the massive doses of hormomes they are getting can't explain this ridiculous behaviour. I've coined a new term for it.

The Gaea complex.

Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? Right up there with Oedipus and Electra.

Anyway, you heard it here first.

My biggest fear may seem rather insignificant compared to the fears of others, but it is something I think about regularly.

Sometimes, rarely but sometimes, I feel dirty and guilty when I know I haven't done anything wrong. For example, when I walk into a store and I am the only one getting followed. I hate it when people look askance at me because I am male, black or at one time, young. The worst is when you can taste the fear that a woman has whenever I happen to be walking behind them, or towards them. Many times (and there are many of you who probably know what I am talking about) they go as far as to walk across to the other side of the street. I even rehearse how I see a situation playing out if she decides to enlist the aid of a store owner, a passerby or even a police officer. "But I really was going in the same direction! But I live over there!" Sometimes when I pass them I think to myself, "See? I am fucking harmeless! I'm just a guy walking down the street that wants nothing to do with you!"