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2 weeks ago on my way to work, I watched a guy pull off to the side of the road. He opened his car door, and just dumped trash out - a few small bags of trash.
by mgkimsal 10y ago
2 weeks ago on my way to work, I watched a guy pull off to the side of the road. He opened his car door, and just dumped trash out - a few small bags of trash. He had just driven past a gas station and convenience store - both with publicly accessible trash cans to throw stuff away - you don't even have to get out of your car. It's a bizarre mindset some people have - let me drive past the driver-accessible trash cans in a paved parking lot, then pull off on to grass and dirt to dump my crap out of the car. There are some aspects of the US which are great, but this large segment of the population which has less than zero regard for public space is... truly crappy.
- 13of40 10y agoCounterpoint: I went on vacation to the Dominican Republic a few years back, and went to one of the more remote villages where there was a river outlet. There was a guy there who wanted to take us out on his boat, but we looked in the water and about half of it was covered with an opaque drift of plastic jugs, pieces of styrofoam, etc. I think in the US we have some antisocial assholes roaming around like the one you saw, but it's not like everyone does it by default.
- Kluny 10y agoThat's awful. I'm fairly sure here in Canada, people would pick the trash up and chase you down the road with it. I've never seen it happen though.
- mgkimsal 10y agoI tried to get a picture of his car, but the sun was at too difficult of an angle. Another thought that made me pause about confronting him was guns. Yay, thanks rampant gun ownership - you certainly prevented an ugly confrontation there, as the idea that I might be shot for confronting someone about trash dumping prevented too much action on my part. I'd posted in our local facebook community page, and 2 other interesting stories came up. 1. someone posted they'd seen something similar a few weeks earlier. They'd confronted the person, and the other person pulled a gun out and threatened them. I do not know if the original person involved police after that. While it might sound far-fetched to some, I live in the rural south of the US. 2. someone else posted a similar story, and had taken a picture of the person dumping trash in public and posted it to the facebook group. that poster was harassed online, with many people complaining that they were "violating the other person's privacy" by posting their picture online without consent. I get truly demoralized at time by living in this area (we're planning a move, but possibly not far enough away).
- ThrwyAct 10y ago> rural south of the US That's the problem. Get out of there ASAP. It has no redeeming qualities. Best move of my life. Unless you have deep roots there and you want to take on the monumental task of actually making your own part of it a better place. Maybe join the city council of a town near a place like Atlanta or Tuscaloosa, and try to spread their civilization a little further into the wilderness.
- Neliquat 10y agoWow, you dont like the south, but stop being a bigot. You are demonstrating the EXACT blind hatred you imply you are against. STOP.
- lenocinor 10y agoAgreed. As someone who has spent most of his life in various parts of the South, there are good and bad parts, same as anywhere else.
- paulddraper 10y agoI like the warm weather, beaches, neighborhood friendliness, greenery, and relaxed cost of living.
- chei0iaV 10y agoSomeone posted this in a different thread: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo3cVuvVRUE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo3cVuvVRUE (looks like Russia, though)
- J-dawg 10y agoIt is utterly bizarre. This stuff angers and confuses me in equal measure. It's like a complete refusal to participate in society, just the expectation that someone else will come and tidy up after you. How do these people behave elsewhere in their lives? One example I keep seeing is people who buy a pack of cigarettes, rip off the plastic film covering and just drop it on the floor. It sends me into a silent rage every time.
- all_usernames 10y agoIf you've spent your whole life feeling victimized by society then you do whatever little things you can to give a big middle finger back. If you're a Black single mom that has to work two jobs to get by, maybe it's easy for you to justify throwing your McDonald's wrappers on the parking lot ground.
- fao_ 10y agoThe race of the person was not mentioned, it was interesting that you assumed that they were black -- although I do not disagree with your point.
- louhike 10y agoIt was an example of a kind of person being victimized by society.
- J-dawg 10y agoThis is an interesting way of looking at it. I wonder if this really is the psychology of people who do stuff like this. If this is the case, it would be interesting to find out whether there is some correlation between wealth inequality and rates of littering.
- 2muchcoffeeman 10y agoA counter point would be all the smoking middle class people I see everyday that throw their butts on the ground.
- all_usernames 10y agoThere's absolutely no visible consequence of leaving your trash in the park in a big city. The city workers will be by later that day to clean it up, or more likely in San Francisco where I live, scavengers will pick it up for recycling within minutes. Out of sight, out of mind. And why not? We certainly pay enough taxes to support those services.