20160331 (the scarlet litter)

I was headed south toward the

Library to return a film. Two

Young women were walking 

North about sixty feet away. 

One was pushing a stroller;

The child was invisible behind

A sunshield. The other had 

Just finished wiping her nose

With something white in her 

Left hand which, as she lowered

Her hand, she casually dropped

Onto a tree lawn as she passed.

When she was within hearing

I called to her, “Miss, are you 

Going to go back and pick up

The litter you just dropped on

The neighbor’s tree lawn?”

“What?” she asked. I repeated

The question. They kept coming

Closer. “It’s just a tissue,” she 

Said as if that excused

Everything. “It’s still your

Garbage—not something

You should be dropping on

Somebody’s yard. Are you 

Going to go back and pick

It up? Take it home or put 

It in a garbage can? At that

She turned around to retrieve

Her tissue but her partner

Chided, “You’re not going 

To do what he says, are you?”

The litterer kept walking toward

The trash but turned around

When her friend unleashed a 

Stream of invective memorable

But too harsh to reproduce

Here aimed, I think, at me for

Telling her friend to mind

Her manners. Rather than 

Pick up her waste she returned

To the friend with the stroller,

Passing me without a word. 

Perhaps she joined in the 

Expletive laden shouting. I

Couldn’t tell but one of

Them kept it up long after

I’d gotten to the next corner.

Perhaps it wasn’t the wisest

Way to change her behavior—

That is, putting it directly to

Her about the offense and her

Responsibility. After all I did

Ask her not tell her. I wasn’t

Quite up to giving her my 

Card and request she read

Any of many rants I’ve

Produced about civic pride

And neatness of neighborhood.

How deep was her history of

Littering? Was she taught to 

Litter by her mother, family

Friends? Or was it inborn 

Knowledge? Either way if

She wants to live in a clean

Environment some day, she’ll

Have first to learn what 

Constitutes a clean environment.

Maybe at home they let her

Drop her tissues wherever

She is. Might have a lot of 

Clogged vacuums if that’s

The case. So somebody has

To tell her. Maybe a teacher

Or her religious authorities.

What if I wasn’t the only one

Confronting the piggies? 

What if they heard it from

Their neighbors, teachers,

Librarians, policemen, and,

Finally, from their peers? 

Those would probably be the

Most effective I discovered

That day.

c. J.S.Manista, 2016