Last weekend I was in Boston and I was able to spot one of my sworn enemies: the litterer. He came disguised as an otherwise environmentally friendly figure: the cyclist.
The man was walking his bike down the sidewalk and I was walking a few steps behind him. He was holding on to a Dunkin’ Donuts coffee cup, common for anyone in Massachusetts. Then, he turned the cup over, causing the lid to fall off and spill coffee on sidewalk. He kept on walking, which confused me. Did he not notice? Was it an honest mistake he was shaking off? I’ll never know. His next move, however, was to crush the cup and chuck it on to the sidewalk.
Not five seconds later, the man and I walk by a trash compactor. I point to it and say, “That’s the trash.”
He responded immediately, because he knew what he did was wrong, “If you care so much, why don’t you pick it up?”
What?
Anyways, I did the coolest thing I could think to do and never looked back at the guy. I just kept walking like I was discarding him. I didn’t give him the benefit of knowing how seething mad this made me. As one might imagine, I didn’t pick up his trash for a couple of reasons: 1) That would teach him that people will always be there to pick up after him; and 2) That’s gross. That cup was covered in coffee from him dumping it all over the place like an animal.
The thing I really can’t believe in all of this is that this man didn’t like the taste of his Dunkin’ Donuts coffee. In Boston of all places! I’m pretty sure it always tastes the same, too. (If I’m being completely honest, I don’t even drink coffee.)
photo credit: Contenedor via photopin (license)
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