9 October 2008

A tale of trash

| RodAct
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Just wanted to share my outrage and bewilderment.

Sitting here in north Canberra at my computer, I noticed a truck pull up outside the neighbour’s house.

Two men in the cabin apparently just having a rest from their busy day.

One lit up a cigarette and the other opened a tin of tuna and promptly threw the can lid on to the footpath.

I couldn’t help my red mist and went outside, walked up to the piece of litter, picked it up and said “I’ll go put this in the bin then hey mate?”

All I got was, “oh…yeah”. Unbelievable.

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bennyboi said :

Also littering at car parks is acceptable because it creates more jobs.. If people cleaned up after them selves everywhere imagine how many jobs would be redundant.

Well aren’t we lucky that you have the nations best interests at heart 😛

bennyboi said :

Also littering at car parks is acceptable because it creates more jobs.. If people cleaned up after them selves everywhere imagine how many jobs would be redundant.

That’s actually a fair point. Most of the time. When the workers doing the cleaning up get paid.

My point above about returning empties (and I do a similar plea at ten to 20 festivals and other gigs every year) is that it’s volunteers who get to share the cleaning up love. At the Muse, the door bitches, the furniture setter-upperers, Jo and Tom behind the bar of the Polish White Eagle Club, the MC — we’re all volunteers, so we get the joy of cleaning up after others on our own time.

But to agree with bennyboi’s point, I’ll happily leave my rubbish under the seat at the cinema for the usher or cleaner to take care of.

Within reason. Anyone who leaves used tissues or anything else one might care to soil with your bodily fluids and secretions really needs to go to the nearest mirror and have a bl00dy hard look at themselves.

BigDave said :

Reminds me of a friend of mine who was smoking a cigarette whilst doing around 60km on his bike with the visor up. The end of the cigarette blew into his eye, the visor went down and he went flying over a fence. Same thing happened to him a week later only this time it involved a large bumble bee.

BigDave, on my first day off in a very long time (why the fark am I still up at 7am?!) and last day off now for a long time, can I thank you sincerely for the body-shaking laugh which has just rearranged many internal organs. Absolutely superb.

Ja, schadenfreude is zehr gut… goede… good.

And bennyboi, I’ve absolutely caned you on another thread, but that magazine story (getting your friend to walk back a kilometre) is absolutely brilliant.

I have a good news story, friends. I was MC for a crowd of about 150-ish at the Merry Muse last night, and I made my usual, jolly request for people to clear their rubbish and take their empties back to the bar. As often, I make it one of the conditions for their getting an encore.

The bar staff were absolutely ecstatic when I walked in there five minutes after the girls (Chanel and Roz from Women in Docs, and Silas the Man in Women in Docs) got off the stage because every last bottle, can and glass was lined up on the bar, not spread around 25 tables.

Restores your faith in your fellow humans. Hmmm. Beer. Time for the last one of the night.

Absolutely superb night, by the way. Put ‘Women in Docs’ and ‘Sam Buckingham’ in your web search and smoke them.

Whatsup said :

Many years ago we were in a line of vehicles waiting to pass through the gate and proceed on to the ski field. The car in front wound down its windows and proceeded to toss out all their McDonalds rubbish out both sides of the car. The parents led the way and the kids in the back seat followed the example. As the traffic was at a standstill my husband got out of the car, picked up the McD paper bag and picked up all their litter. He then knocked on the window of the car, as the driver wound it down he presented them with their rubbish bag and said ” You appear to have dropped this “. The bewildered driver nodded and mumbled something in a foreign language and accepted the bag. They may have been tourists, that kind of thing might be OK where they originated from, I will give them the benefit of the doubt. We saw them put their rubbish in a bin when they reached the carpark. Maybe they will think twice next time, maybe not.

My old land lady on Antill street used to be out housing her foot path all the time, and the garden whenever she felt like it. Certainly not in safe times as directed by water restrictions…
When authorities were called in she pretended she could not speak English, yet she seemed to have mastered it ok when shouting at me from over the fence..

Cheeky lil bugga!!

On the Captain’s Flat road, at a certain point, there’s often Maccas paper bags full of Macca’s litter. So, you have to assume that it’s people who live up here, chucking their crummy rubbish out.

I bet, BET their cars sport P plates.

Reminds me of a friend of mine who was smoking a cigarette whilst doing around 60km on his bike with the visor up. The end of the cigarette blew into his eye, the visor went down and he went flying over a fence. Same thing happened to him a week later only this time it involved a large bumble bee.

Also littering at car parks is acceptable because it creates more jobs.. If people cleaned up after them selves everywhere imagine how many jobs would be redundant.

This thread is fantastic. I’m finding many of these stories to be a great laugh!

I haven’t ever noticed anyone tossing a butt etc. while I’ve been near, but I think that if it happens while I’m next to them in traffic I’ll hop of the motorbike, pick the butt up and give it back to them, without opening my visor, which they won’t be able to see through.

Friends of mine that ride have told stories of having a butt go into their helmet at traffic lights, I think if that happened I’d follow/chase the offender and, well, I’m not sure what I’d do when I caught them, but they wouldn’t enjoy it.

worecraft said :

bennyboi said :

threw a 60 page magazine out the window like you would a piece of your big mac after eating the good bits..

What good bits are there in a big mac??

The special sauce.

bennyboi said :

threw a 60 page magazine out the window like you would a piece of your big mac after eating the good bits..

What good bits are there in a big mac??

Was giving a lift to a friend once and they threw a 60 page magazine out the window like you would a piece of your big mac after eating the good bits..

I pulled over and made her walk a kilometer down the road and pick it up 🙂

So nice to hear some kindred spirits out there. But so sad to hear the stories too. McDonalds and others (I’m thinking cigarette companies) should be made to educate their patrons on the negative aspects of littering.

GottaLoveCanberra5:27 pm 10 Oct 08

I was following a big stupid 4wd in Tuggers today (with NSW plates), covered in lots of silly stickers and wasn’t suprised to watch a pre-mixed drink can crushed go flying out the window.

Made me want to stop, get the can and follow them, then smash the can on their windscreen.

Tossers.

AG Canberra said :

While at my local shops I too placed the just dropped beer can back into the lap of the person in the passenger seat….who then got out of the car to reveal his full 7 foot height and 130kg weight! If I didn’t have my three year old with me at the time I reckon I wouldn’t be here to tell the tale.

Eventually the police turned up and after dispatching him they then proceeded to lecture me on just ignoring situations where people litter….sheesh!

Yeah, that’s exactly the reason I figure I’ll look at my woeful level of medical cover and opt out of most situations.

I was watching the Cashews play at lunchtime in Petrie Plaza and there were two (I shudder and revile and resile from using this phrase, but I can’t resist) typical-looking male public servants having a smoke each directly in front of Pete and Alison. I turned away and when I looked back one had finished and there was what looked like a squashed butt (ahem, so to speak) behind him. (Don’t remember if I mentioned above but I’m spectacle-less today thanks to my glasses finally giving up this am, and Murphy’s Law 229 for these 2.5 days is that my contacts are in the briefcase at home.)

So I watched Typical Pube #2 like a hawk for any sign of dropsy, and I had my line all ready (to deliver well away from the players and the punters, with all smiles, care and concern): ‘Escuse me, mate. You dropped something.’ * Point at butt * (You get my drift.)

So it cheered my little heart when he took five steps forward and put the butt in the bin. I don’t know that he stubbed it out, but I’ll offset that little extra bit of carbon for him as my good deed for the day!!

I work in a beautiful heritage building, with doubly beautiful heritage gardens that are meticulously cared for and look a million bucks, thick grass (don’t worry, they have water tanks), blossoms out, butterflies flying about….anyway I cannot believe the number of smokers everyday who flick cigarette butts casually onto the grass or into the flowerbeds when THERE ARE ASHTRAYS PROVIDED, and the man who looks after the gardens and picks them all up ISN’T EVEN PAID COZ HE IS A VOLUNTEER.

* steam *

While at my local shops I too placed the just dropped beer can back into the lap of the person in the passenger seat….who then got out of the car to reveal his full 7 foot height and 130kg weight! If I didn’t have my three year old with me at the time I reckon I wouldn’t be here to tell the tale.

Eventually the police turned up and after dispatching him they then proceeded to lecture me on just ignoring situations where people litter….sheesh!

tylersmayhem12:09 pm 10 Oct 08

I do agree that there is something to be said from the number of times that rubbish dumped is McDonalds crap. I think it can be directly attributed to the IQ or genetics of people who eat McDonalds?!

And they left taking every single scrap of rubbish with them! God love [insert airline here].

Three Post Bag Nut!

Actually, if the suits get up and leave with all their stuff on the table I might go over there (as Overheard from Dublin and………)

Oh Lord love a duck! I broke my glasses this morning so I’ve been wandering around all morning in a bit of a drug-induced (without the drugs) blurry world of non-comprehension: the suits and business skirts three tables away are all wearing the livery of a certain airline: it’s the crew for my flight!!!!

That, kiddies, would be what we call a bad career move!

I’ve been dying to have enough gumption, cohones, and medical insurance to do the cigarette butt throw back through the window.

In seven of my 27 jobs I have to politely request people to dispose of their rubbish and it’s a tough battle. Do it with a smile and a wink and a joke, and get people to get to understand WHY they should be doing it (rather than just barking at them that they SHOULD be doing it) seems to work better.

Some folks you’re just not going to convert.

Actually, I did do the ‘knock on the window’ on Yamba Drive a couple of weeks ago, but that was on another matter I may post at a later date. The rather dishy chick who I smiled at sweetly and pointed out the error o’ her ways was less than impressed. (NSW plates, if I never get around to it, btw.)

Actually, I’m going to do a little experiment now and do a bit of garbage clean up here at the annoying coffee shop filled with annoying suits and business skirts outside Gate 4 and see what reaction I get.

Wish me luck!

i love this post, and the comments. they make me laugh. or maybe i’m just happy it’s friday!

for the record though i loathe litterbugs. you know who else i hate? the selfish thoughtless &*!@*&!)*@&!s in my complex (in fact they have existed in every complex i’ve lived in) who put green waste or non-normal-household waste (like tvs, computers etc) in the big shared body corporate skipper and fill it half-full with their crap they could not be arsed taking themselves to the tip – leaving barely any space for everyone else. and they do this on the day the bin has been emptied so it is chockers/overflowing for the rest of the week. you know who you are and you SUCK!

its gold when you save up your car-rubbish for weeks, then while driving down the parkway you just open the door and kick it all out haha… pure comedy ay

Put it in the bin……what bin?

..or when you throw a bottle out the window and it doesn’t smash. so annoying!

seems to be a common theme with McDonalds here huh??

I just hate when you litter and you think nobody is watching, but then some smug git gives you a dirty look like they’ve never done anything wrong..

People know it’s wrong- they just don’t want to get caught! It infuriates me when I see people do that kind of thing.

Once at Belconnen Mall I had three teenage girls walking towards me rearranging their shopping and I saw them casually drop three plastic bags- they were about 5 meters from a bin!!! I put on my best “teacher voice” (as my hubby likes to call it when I get self-righteous in public) and let them know that I’d seen them and they might want to do the right thing, put it in the bin.

You could tell at least one of them was mortified so I hope she learnt something.

The attitude for sure…. because they pass that on

What’s worse – the way people litter or their attitude that someone else was put on this planet to pick up after them!

People frequently clean out their car rubbish, ashtrays, disposable nappies, McDonalds stuff where they park. I wonder what is going on in their minds? Ditto the large numbers of people who throw their cigarette butts out onto the ground, it’s a disgusting attitude.

Parkway near Kambah – driver in front throws ciggie butt, grrrr, then rear passenger throws macca’s bag and empty drink container, then (other) rear passenger throws apple! Not core, but apple! What the?!

Next set of lights, feeling brave because car was built in the last 3 decades, honk horn and sign my displeasure. Response – another apple (not core) hurled at my vehicle. I wonder, did these people just love littering or also nurse a great hate of fruit?

Oh, and the rear passengers couldn’t have been any more than 7 years old.

grrr i hate litterbugs

its great when you are on a motor bike at the lights and you pick up a cigger just chucked out of the next car and stub it out on their bonnet or throw it back in the window, hilarity ensuses..

Where’s the bewilderment come in?

Many years ago we were in a line of vehicles waiting to pass through the gate and proceed on to the ski field. The car in front wound down its windows and proceeded to toss out all their McDonalds rubbish out both sides of the car. The parents led the way and the kids in the back seat followed the example. As the traffic was at a standstill my husband got out of the car, picked up the McD paper bag and picked up all their litter. He then knocked on the window of the car, as the driver wound it down he presented them with their rubbish bag and said ” You appear to have dropped this “. The bewildered driver nodded and mumbled something in a foreign language and accepted the bag. They may have been tourists, that kind of thing might be OK where they originated from, I will give them the benefit of the doubt. We saw them put their rubbish in a bin when they reached the carpark. Maybe they will think twice next time, maybe not.

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