Wednesday, June 11, 2008

One at a time

As I was driving home the other day, a Honda Civic driving in front of me reminded me of a commercial which I absolutely love. It really spoke to me because I feel like someone read my mind.

If you haven't seen the commercial or don't have time to watch the link, here's my quick synopsis. Guy1 is oblivious because he's too busy either on the phone with a business associate, driving around town, or just too preoccupied to bother with properly disposing of his trash. Meanwhile, guy2 is a laid-back dude sporting a messengar bag and jeans. He apparently has a similar daily route and notices guy1's trail of litter. Guy2 starts picking up after guy1 day after day - coffee cup, burger wrapper, to go bag, etc. Finally, one day, guy1 is confused by the discovery of a tree sculpture on top of his car as he comes out from the convenience store. Guy2 casually walks past, hops into his Civic, and drives away.

I can't tell you how much it irks me to see photos of Long Beach Harbor covered in a layer of fast-food containers after the first winter rains, a log jam of cigarette butts in the gutter at the bottom of highway exit ramps, and mice that scurry along searching through the trash that collects along the tracks of the subway. For years, I've dreamed of having one wish, a wish to make people live one day with all the trash they've ever carelessly tossed for someone else to clean up. Yes, my dream would be for everyone to wake up one morning with all their trash magically piled up in their living rooms. I don't know whether it would truly impact people who don't give a crap, but it would make my day to give them a bit of hell.

The sad thing about all this is that it's not the Civic that made me think of the commercial. Unfortunately, it was the sight of a cigarette but being flung from the driver's window that sparked the thought. Heaven forbid the car get dirty, so let's trash the town instead. People are truly just thoughtless aren't they?

Someday...

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