From Happy to Angry in Just a Few Minutes

Like most people in America in  2020, I spend nearly all my time at home.

I don't work from home because I am retired. So I have many hours to fill each day. I usually travel several times a year, but that isn't happening because of the pandemic. As a matter of fact, I'm supposed to be in Glacier National Park on a photography trip this week. Maybe next year.

So I am always looking for things to do that I enjoy. At the top of the list is photography. Early yesterday morning, as I was walking my dogs, I spotted a couple of things I wanted to photograph. The early morning light was soft and warm. But I didn't have a camera with me. So I took a photo with my cell phone and determined to return this morning with a camera.

And that is what I did. I made the dogs wait for their walk and headed off to walk the the 1/2 mile to the location that had caught my eye. I had to wait just a couple of minutes for the sun to rise above the mountains. I took several photos of both things, then walked home, feeling happy and content that I had been able to do even a bit of photography.

I got the dogs and we headed out on our walk, hoping to beat the heat (it's supposed to be 103 F today). All was going well, until we turned the corner onto the main road through the area. Some asshole had thrown fast food trash all over the road. There was a paper cup, a plastic lid with plastic straw, a plastic bottle, a container of fries and other assorted food trash and wrappings. I was livid. 

It's bad enough that I am constantly finding empty discarded plastic bottles of whisky, wine and other cheap alcoholic drinks, not to mention water bottles and beer cans. But the food trash was particularly disgusting. Why not leave it in the car until it can be disposed of properly? Who do these cretins believe will clean up after them? 

I live in an upscale neighborhood of nice, well-maintained homes, each on a 1/2-acre lot. I will pick up cans and bottles and take them home to be recycled. But I wasn't going to pick up food trash, especially during this pandemic and with my hands full of leashes and a bag of dog poop. And that's another thing: People need to pick up after their dogs! I am tired of seeing multiple piles of dog poop on the roads, the trails and beside the roads.

People are slobs.They are turning a nice area into a garbage dump. It takes no effort at all do do the right thing and dispose of trash and recyclables the right way. And picking up after one's dogs, while not terribly pleasant, takes so little effort. I don't see stray dogs in the area, so I know the poop that is everywhere is from dogs being walked on leash by people who simply can't be bothered.

Whatever happened to personal responsibility? To cleaning up after oneself? America is in serious decline on a number of fronts. These issues are just some of the indicators.