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A little while ago, My wife and I went to a friend's wedding. We met my wife's boss and her husband (Marilyn and John). Marilyn said she needed to go and get wrapping paper so she could wrap her gift. My wife (Lucy) said she had some in her office, so we all got into their (Ick) SUV and drove over to the art museum where they (and I, part-time) work. John and I waited in the car while Marilyn and Lucy went to wrap the present. While we're sitting there, two workmen came out of the museum and got into their van. As they start to pull out, the driver drops a styrofoam cup out his window. I immediately got out, picked it up, dropped it back in the window, and said "You dropped this."
He backed out a little, and threw it out again!
I picked it up, and threw it back in his window. He said "You're a real Jerk!" and drove away.
Here's the tips:
1. Don't litter on your customers' property. This is a museum, and the area where your van is parked is used for summer camp during the day. It needs to be kept clean, and the museum has to pay someone to pick up your cup.
2. If a guy in a suit calls you on your littering, don't immediately litter again. He may work there. I may only work there part-time, but I care about how the place looks!
3. As you are leaving, calling the guy names, don't have your COMPANY PHONE NUMBER on the side of your vehicle!
4. While the suited guy is on the phone with YOUR SUPERVISOR, explaining that you have littered on their property then acted rudely when confronted, DON"T turn your van around, get out, and stand at their car window shouting abuse and threats of personal harm at the person! Especially if your NAME is on your shirt!
I'm not sure what happened when that guy got back to his office, but from the tone his supervisor had, this isn't the first issue they've had with him. It would be a shame for him if he lost his job over a carelessly dropped cup, but maybe he'll be a little more considerate of other people's property.

You definitely called that one right. It's amazing how inconsiderate people are. I learned about littering when I bought my first house in town. It was at a 4-way stop and I continually had to pick-up McDonalds trash, beer cans, and occasionally glass from broken beer bottles.

I no longer have that problem. I live at the end of a cul-de-sac.:D

I've given up hope on people on a whole. Sometimes I wished I didn't have to share my living space with the scum that litters the earth in the form of a human being.

Good for you! I would actually prefer he lost his job. Throwing it out once can be an unthinking mistake, but doing again after being chastised makes him a problem. If he can't be courteous he doesn't need to be working anywhere he had to deal with people.

If you don't mind me asking, how did John react to confrontation?

I'd like to do that with the cigarettes that people toss out their windows. Why is my environment someone else's ashtray? Cars are made with ashtrays, so there is absolutely no excuse for such stupid behavior.

Good for you! I would actually prefer he lost his job. Throwing it out once can be an unthinking mistake, but doing again after being chastised makes him a problem. If he can't be courteous he doesn't need to be working anywhere he had to deal with people.

If you don't mind me asking, how did John react to confrontation?
He was dozing a bit, I think, in the driver's seat, I was in the back, so he hadn't even noticed until the guy came back and was yelling. He agreed that it was inconsiderate to litter, and thought the guy was a creep. I myself am a technician, and I would NEVER litter on my customers' property, even if I were inclined to litter elsewhere!

My wife and I live on a farm that has 2 state roads crossing the property. We pick up about 6 large trash bags worth of litter off them each year. This year we even had a whole refrigerator dumped by our cow pasture!
There is ONE person who comes through all the time, and throws a water bottle out on our road. It's the same person, because we've picked up nearly 30 of the same brand of water, and they all have Crystal Light in the bottom. We find the little Crystal Light packets all the time, too. maybe someday they'll do it when I'm out, and can follow them home and return their "Lost" bottles.

fireflyfarm

Did you try researching the serial # on the refrigerator?

About a year ago an officer had brought a cut out of a computer shipping box that had been left on the side of the road. The cut out had had my store number and the computer serial number on it. I told him to contact that manufacture to see who the computer was registered to. :-)

Never did hear the end result.

OM

I'd like to do that with the cigarettes that people toss out their windows. Why is my environment someone else's ashtray? Cars are made with ashtrays, so there is absolutely no excuse for such stupid behavior.

this one has bugged me for years. i was at some historic archeological site out west (i can't remember which one), and there were cigarette butts tossed into the site. WTF? why are they considered acceptable discards anywhere the smoker is finished with them. i just don't understand the mentality. even though my ex smokes, he never did it in the house, and he used to extinguish the butts and keep them until he found an ashtray or trash can.......

Higher taxes on cigarettes!!!

It's especially annoying when there is a blatant disregard for the "No smoking within x feet" signs.

I'd say about half the smokers out there don't give a crap about anyone else...or them selves either....I have always noticed that the vast majority of idiots that do not wear seatbelts are puffing away. My Dad was, is one of those...when ever he'd try to throw a cigarette out the window and it would blow back in and burn me he'd smack me for crying.

As far as idiots that do ANYTHING stupid in an employers vehicle, I call the number ASAP!

As far as people in general....I've always told my wife that 1 out of every 25 should be killed on the spot to make the world a better place to live.....I have ammended that to 1 out of 10......and I am tired of temporary insanity pleas, or being incompetent to stand trial. The crime was still committed. Kill child molesters too!

Higher taxes on cigarettes!!!

It's especially annoying when there is a blatant disregard for the "No smoking within x feet" signs.

Especially those who stand 2 feet upwind of the door. Sure glad I got all the 2nd hand and sidestream smoke as well.:rolleyes:

fireflyfarm

Did you try researching the serial # on the refrigerator?

About a year ago an officer had brought a cut out of a computer shipping box that had been left on the side of the road. The cut out had had my store number and the computer serial number on it. I told him to contact that manufacture to see who the computer was registered to. :-)

Never did hear the end result.

OM
We called the Township, and they said it was a State-maintained road, so they couldn't do anything. We called the State, and they said to call the Township. I said "Well, we could just take it back down and leave it in the middle of the road where we found it".
The Township came out about a week later, and picked it up. We hadn't put it back on the road- it was by the barn. I HOPE they properly disposed of it, instead of just venting the gas and scrapping it, or throwing it in their dumpster.
I noticed yesterday that there is a trash bag at the bottom of the hill, and some bottles in the cow pasture. I'll have to go get them later today, before the cows get into them.

I know a guy who runs an electrical company. He came in one day and found that someone had dumped their household trash into his trash bin. With a little exploring through the trash he figured out who it came from. It ended up back on the guy front porch/yard and I don't think it was still in the bags.

I've given up hope on people on a whole. Sometimes I wished I didn't have to share my living space with the scum that litters the earth in the form of a human being.

My sentiments exactly.

I know a guy who runs an electrical company. He came in one day and found that someone had dumped their household trash into his trash bin. With a little exploring through the trash he figured out who it came from. It ended up back on the guy front porch/yard and I don't think it was still in the bags.

People use business dumpsters for disposal all the time. In some neighborhoods businesses have to lock them. Back when I worked car rental we apparently had a neighbor who didn't want his wife to know how much beer he was drinking. We had a bag of cans and bottles after every weekend. I thought that his using our dumpster was better than the bandages the neighboring plasma center donors would leave for us to pickup.

That said, its best to avoid jumping to conclusions. One of my wife's friends deposits the litter she picks up when she is out walking in the first trash can she sees near the road. One day someone saw her putting trash in their trash can, but didn't see that she had picked litter up off their own property. Later the trash can owner deposited the litter my wife's friend had picked up off the neighbor's property at her door.

fierflyfarm, I've only been up for about 5 min, but that is by far the best story I've heard today. you get a point for throwing the cup back in his window:)

I flagged down a girl at a gas station a few feet after she slyly dropped a soda can out of her car, she stopped and rolled down the window, I picked up the can, handed it to her and said "I think you dropped this" winked and went about my business, she got really red, I didn't leave her time to respond, I'm pretty sure she didn't toss it out again :D

Higher taxes on cigarettes!!!

It's especially annoying when there is a blatant disregard for the "No smoking within x feet" signs.

I always make an extra effort to cough when I walk by those people.

Not to be all up in arms about it (and I know there are considerate smokers out there- thank you!), but I've never understood how people can be so callous as to constantly litter cigarette butts and say, "It's not my problem. I don't have to clean it up."

Some numbers... Smokers litter 4.5 trillion cigarette butts annually in the US, which can pollute streams with their poisons. Also, the VA DoT spends $6.5 million/year on litter cleanup. (Sources here (http://whyquit.com/whyquit/A_Butts.html) and here (http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/nvswcd/newsletter/buttlitter.htm).)

I'd like to see cops come down hard on litterbugs. Make them pay a $500+ fine and put points on their driving record. Better yet, give cops incentives to actually bust these people, and give ordinary citizens a cut of the fine if they snitch out a litterbug.

People use business dumpsters for disposal all the time. In some neighborhoods businesses have to lock them. Back when I worked car rental we apparently had a neighbor who didn't want his wife to know how much beer he was drinking. We had a bag of cans and bottles after every weekend. I thought that his using our dumpster was better than the bandages the neighboring plasma center donors would leave for us to pickup.

That said, its best to avoid jumping to conclusions. One of my wife's friends deposits the litter she picks up when she is out walking in the first trash can she sees near the road. One day someone saw her putting trash in their trash can, but didn't see that she had picked litter up off their own property. Later the trash can owner deposited the litter my wife's friend had picked up off the neighbor's property at her door.

I can see your point, but this guys trash dumpster was enough out of the way that someone had to deliberately drive into the place to leave the trash. Plus it was multiple bags.

today i was at a horse show with some friends. one of the women, and two of the girls and i were standing at the end of the arena, watching and photographing. a couple of women in a FSP (of course) pulled in right next to us, and left it running while they sat there.

the one in the passenger's seat, which was the side nearest us, was hanging her arm out the window with a cigarette in hand. the breeze was blowing it into our faces. i politely asked if she couldn't please keep it inside the car, which i thought she did, and said thank you. next thing i hear is the other woman with me saying "well, THAT was rude." apparently our girl in the car inhaled a large breath and blew a huge cloud of smoke at us.

she snapped back "this is my car and i can smoke here if i want." when i suggested she close the window, they backed out and left.

i didn't see it, but my friend who was closer said there was a young child in between the two women in the car......think of all the smoking that poor kid has done.

today i was at a horse show with some friends. .........

she snapped back "this is my car and i can smoke here if i want." when i suggested she close the window, they backed out and left.

i didn't see it, but my friend who was closer said there was a young child in between the two women in the car......think of all the smoking that poor kid has done.

And the bad manners she has been taught....no doubt the woman was a bully getting in your face. Horse people sure are a mixed crowd:).

Not that smoking bothers me much, but blowing smoke in my face would cross the line-- my wife probably would've had to jerk me by the back of the collar to prevent me from grabbing her smoke and rubbing it out in her upholstery.

The jerks that get me are the ones who dump their pets in the country--somebody left this little guy by our house about a week ago. He was lucky--I'm sure the coyotes and foxes get most of them.

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/500/SmallCat.jpg

Once, when stopped in a long line of traffic, I witnessed the girl in the car in front of me opening the passenger door and shoving a huge load of trash onto the side of the road. I have often regretted not writing down her license plate number so I could get her fined. I don't understand the mentality of these people at all. I don't see how they could think their behavior was in the least bit acceptable.

Higher taxes on cigarettes!!!

It's especially annoying when there is a blatant disregard for the "No smoking within x feet" signs.

I wonder if throwing a bucket of water in their face could be considered self defense? :D


I can see your point, but this guys trash dumpster was enough out of the way that someone had to deliberately drive into the place to leave the trash. Plus it was multiple bags.

Hate to suggest it, but it could have fallen out of a garbage truck and somone just put in nearest recepticle. Probably not, but not impossible either. I have seen officers pick up something out of the road and place it in a nearby trashcan.


today i was at a horse show with some friends.

Aren't some horses spooked by smoke?

Hate to suggest it, but it could have fallen out of a garbage truck and somone just put in nearest recepticle. Probably not, but not impossible either. I have seen officers pick up something out of the road and place it in a nearby trashcan.

Given how much someone had to go out of their way to get to his dumpster I really don't think that was likely. Plus is was more than one bag, so I have my doubts it just fell of the garbage truck.

A few days back I witnessed a guy on a back road completely stopped in the middle of the road, tossing out his fast food trash. He speed off when he saw me coming up on him. I didn't get a chance to take down his plate or grab a picture.

Smokers are GENERALLY the worst for these types of actions, so I won't cry one note for them when smoking is illegal in the workplace in a few more years. Bring it on. They puffed smoke rings in our faces for years, time we got what we deserve.

In Ontario, it's now Illegal to smoke while an infant is in the car with you. Good, bust em, give em a fine, whatever. Crack down on it.

Smokers ......puffed smoke rings in our faces for years, time we got what we deserve.

Sounds like something I've said. Smokers had their way for 500 years, I want the next 500.

Aren't some horses spooked by smoke?

they might be if it was a large fire, however, when they are being ridden in the ring, the amount created by one cigarette wouldn't. there are many riders who do smoke, and i am sure they do it around the horses when they are at such events.

the smoke was irritating to us because she drove right up next to us and it drifted into our space, and was instantly noticed.