The world is not your trash bag!

Yesterday I was driving route 129 through Lynnfield to Swampscott, and I happened to be behind a blue Honda Civic in which four teenagers were traveling.  I could have sworn I recognized the boy as one who just graduated, but I couldn't really identify the girls.  Except one.  To be fair, I'm only 87% sure it is the young girl I am thinking of because I could only see her mug through the side mirror.  What's important is not who she was so much as what she did.  Yup, she tossed a handful of trash right out the window.

SERIOUSLY?  What an ass hat!  I wanted to get out of the car at the red light and give the girl a good hollering, but I didn't, mostly because I had my two kids in the car, and I was afraid that I would end up getting arrested as a crazy person for defending my right to a clean environment.

Were it only this singular incident that I witnessed, I *might* not have been so overcome with rage, but it seems there are lots of filthy fart tards in this world, and they are really burning my ass leaving their trash around.

Exhibit B--we went to the beach on Sunday, and a family of four--two adults and two teenagers--sat comfortably in their beach chairs while they watched their snack bag blow away in the wind.  Another inconsiderate jerk left a plastic water bottle behind as if someone else would take care of it for him.  Where do people think all this trash is going?????  How do you think this happens?

I'm sure you've all (and by all I do mean the 4 of you who are reading this) heard that there is no one worse than a reformed smoker. Well, I'm going to give truth to this expression.  Yes, I used to smoke butts.  And yes, I used to throw my butts out the window of my car because--selfishly--I did not want my car smelling like stale smoke.  ASSHOLE.  I know.  Ironically in confessing to this civic crime, I am also going to tear apart the stupid pieces of shit who do the exact same thing I used to do.  The butt out the window enrages me almost as much as the second hand smoke.


Call me a hypocrite, but at least I'm holding the mirror up to my face and being honest about what I see.  Perhaps the butt toss bothers me so much because I know that I, too, was often guilty of committing this wrong.  If I hadn't quit smoking almost 15 years ago, I might still be throwing my butts to the wind, but I would also be a lot heavier, in poorer health, and definitely not married to my husband, so life would all together suck for me.

I'd probably be one of those people who asks for my meat in plastic bags even though it is already wrapped in plastic AND I put it in a clear plastic bag when I chose it from the meat cooler.  How much plastic does one package of meat need?  In fact, how many plastic bags does one shopper need?  Certainly not a single bag for every item!  I'm nearly yelling at my laptop now.  Exhale.

But trash dumping and waste production has historically been a global issue, and not one from which many Americans can escape blame.  This piece from CNN really resonated with me as it evidenced the progress we have made in social trash tossing. I loved Lady Bird's expression of why she used her position to influence social change as much as I love the outcome of her efforts.  She said ,"Ugliness is so grim. A little beauty, something that is lovely, I think, can help create harmony, which will lessen tensions." 

So, I have to feel better knowing that I have changed, and that there is great evidence of change in the world around me.  Because life doesn't suck, and the earth is an amazingly fragile and tender gift on which we get to walk every day, right?  Did you see the moon last night?  Absolutely brilliant, and today is a brand new day.  So please, don't anyone go pissing me off because my husband has the kids, and you don't want me to get out of my car!