Don't Be A Litter Bug

I live in a city. It's a small city but a city nonetheless. And if you ask most of my family (who all live in the country), they think it's the big bad scary city. Glad they never came to visit me on the Hill in DC! Anyway, my purpose for pointing that out is to mention that many blocks are a mix of residential and business. I live two buildings from a nice Italian restaurant and then there are many homes and then a block away are three pizza shops. Because in NY, you don't order a pie. You walk down the street to "get a slice." And that is where the divide comes in. Some (say, me for example) sit at tables and eat their slice of pizza in the restaurant. Then another culture of folks like to walk around the streets to eat their food. And when they are finished eating, they like to toss the unwanted crust and paper products down on the street and sidewalk. This is not a NY thing either. When I lived in DC, the same cultural group would do that with chicken wings. I know this because I have a dog and her best command is "drop it" in reference to the crap people toss down on the sidewalks. "Come" and "stay" mean not a whole lot to her but "drop it" has a 98% return rate.

So the other day I was walking the pup and in front of me was a mother and a young (four years old maybe?) little boy. He finished his food and she kept saying, just throw it (the paper napkin) it down, just throw it down. On the damn sidewalk!! They had just passed a trash can (not more than 5 feet away) and were coming up on another trash can. But she kept demanding that he just throw it down and he kept asking, "on the sidewalk??"

I know that nothing is more annoying that some stranger butting her head where it doesn't belong but I just had to. So Sadie and I sped up and I said, "hey buddy, there's a trash can right there to throw it in. You don't want to be a litter bug, right?" The mom gave me dagger eyes, but come on! That's just ridiculous!! Sometimes you just have to say something. I said it in a very cheerful voice and I tried not to be rude. Clearly the mother is long gone but it's not too late for the little kid to learn that trash cans are indeed for....wait for it.... trash. Sheesh!