Litter, garbage, and respect

The other day, I saw a person throw a cup out their car window into a parking lot. I really could not believe that they felt that the world was their waste basket. What kind of people have so little respect for the environment and other people that they throw their garbage out of the car window?

Was it an accident? Did the cup accidentally fall out of the car? I think not. As it was cold outside, they had to roll the window down before ejecting the offending cup from the car.

And since then, I've witnessed at least three cigarette butts being tossed out of vehicles. Except at night, I had never noticed that before. What is the mindset of people who toss garbage out of moving vehicles and into traffic?

Why do we as a society have so little respect for things and places that are not ours. For instance the movie theater--people leave their garbage at their seats. And I saw the local flea market lot on Saturday after the market closed--garbage strewn everywhere.

Have we become a society where we believe that we are the only ones who matter? Do we no longer respect ourselves or others?

If we do not care for the shared spaces, soon we will be sharing them with rats. Rats love garbage.


-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD