How to tell a Kid from a Grownup

Cougar Allen

Cougar Allen

Buccaneer (ret.)
Joined
Oct 9, 1998
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I encountered a stranger on the street. She was talking to a group of people, ranting about litter. As I approached her I wasn't sure if she was a kid or a grownup until I heard her say, "I'm not going to pick it up -- it's not my trash!"
 
I don't really consider myself grown-up. but one thing I've already learned is: get used to picking up other people's trash. I seem to do it a lot.
 
Gollnick said:
I don't really consider myself grown-up. but one thing I've already learned is: get used to picking up other people's trash. I seem to do it a lot.
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Chuck...Grown-up or not, if you were as big and as mean as I am, you could MAKE 'em pick-up their own trash (like I do).:D.:D.
 
glockman99 said:
if you were as big and as mean as I am, you could MAKE 'em pick-up their own trash
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I was walking down the street with my daughter when she was just a little kid. A man walking towards us put a piece of gum in his mouth and tossed the wrapper over his shoulder.

My daughter told him littering was wrong, and he should pick it up and put it in the wastepaper basket on the corner.

He did. And apologized. :)
 
:thumbup: Cool! Can't stand litter, my wife plays hell about paper & wrappers in my pockets messing up the washing. I'd rather have to do the wash again though than see it on the streets, only scum drop litter.

I wish it was more like Singapore here, there is crap (especially cigarette butts) all over the place, it looks disgusting.
 
My brother went up to Canada for cross-country skiing because the woods were cleaner. When I hiked through Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, I would go through the back-country, where I never saw people, but I did see trash in the bushes.
 
Ok, I have to tell you guys a story about litter, high school kids and myself and I'll try to make it brief. I live in a small community so it's not like we have have any gangs or anything, lots of wannabies but that's about it.

Anyhow, several years ago I was coming out of the local grocery store after I did some shopping. There was a car (convertible) with about 4 high school aged boys in it. As I walked past I saw one of them toss a Dairy Queen bag out of the car into the parking lot. I walked over and told them to come on out, pick it up and place in one of the trash cans. That the world was not here to pick up after them like their mommies do and that it's not right that the grocery store folks should have to pick up after them. Now, I'm not a huge guy but I'm in good shape at 6'2" 215 lbs (I'm 45 now, probably about 38 then), grey in my beard and mustache, ponytail (then). I don't consider myself a tough guy or anything, but am not afraid to mix it up if I really have to. To be honest I have lost as many fights as I have ever won and I haven't been in a fight for a very, very, very long time. Two of them told the guy who tossed it out to go pick up his crap (kind of surprised me). Well, this one guy got out and stared at me like he was thinking of starting a fight. I looked at him, took a step forward and said, "Think about this really careful son." He kept staring at me, but picked up the trash and put it in a trash can. I said nicely done, thank you and went on my way as they did.

Now, you would think this the end of the story. Well, it's not.

A month or so after this incident I was waiting in a ferry boat line to get home after a mens league softball game. Being a nice summer evening everyone in the ferry line had their windows open and I happened to be listening to a baseball game on the radio. In my side rear view mirror I see about 3-4 high school aged boys walking down between the cars, probably to get something to snack on at the small convenience store at the end of the ferry loading lot before the ferry boat arrived. As the last one in line passes my car, I hear a paper cup hit the concrete, I mean it was right next to me. I lean my head out my window a little bit and say, "Excuse me, but you seemed to have dropped your cup and could you please pick it up?". The guy said, oh yeah, hmmm, sorry about that." and picked it up. One of the other guys looked back and said, "Not you again!", "This is the guy I was telling you guys about up at the grocery store parking lot.". They all started laughing and so did I. He asked if I was part of the parking lot litter patrol for the whole state. I laughed and said yeah, it kind of seems that way didn't it? We yacked a bit and he said the other guy up at the grocery store is really an ass and frankly would have liked to seen him get his ass beat. Anyhow, we all had a good laugh and the litter was picked up and hopefully they learned something .... hopefully.

Just thought it was a funny story about litter that you'd like to hear. Though I do have another one about a kid spitting on a motorcycle off the upper deck of the ferry boat and what I made him do. But maybe another time.
 
Nice story. :)

Sitting at a stop light, how many times have you seen somebody throw a cigarette butt out of the window? Probably lots. I've always wanted to quickly get out of my car, run up and pick up the butt and throw it back in the person's car. I would say something like, "excuse me, I believe you dropped this. No, no, no, you don't need to thank me!" :D Damn lights never stay red long enough though. :)
 
Esav Benyamin said:
My brother went up to Canada for cross-country skiing because the woods were cleaner. When I hiked through Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, I would go through the back-country, where I never saw people, but I did see trash in the bushes.
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Nice park, Van Cortlandt. I go by there occasionally on my way to Connecticut. I always loved that section of the Bronx and I envy the folks in those apartments that face the river. I always thought that if I lived in NYC I would want to live there (and I'm not even Jewish). :)
 
Esav Benyamin said:
My brother went up to Canada for cross-country skiing because the woods were cleaner. When I hiked through Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, I would go through the back-country, where I never saw people, but I did see trash in the bushes.
Click to expand...

I'm not familiar with that Bronx park, but I can assure you that here in Canada, we have our share of absolute pigs. The amount of litter in my town is disgusting. Then, when I try to get away from it all, there are heaps of garbage alongside the back roads and logging roads. I mean household garbage, old appliances, old mattresses; you name it. Those lazy G** d*** slobs can't be bothered to take their garbage to the landfill. Makes me sick and depressed about humanity, it does! I just don't get it. :mad:
 
The best NY apartments facing a river probably still are on Riverside Drive. A cousin of ours used to invite the family over for the Fourth of July back when the city shot off fireworks over the Hudson. Riverside Drive and the park also used to be one of the clean areas in Manhattan. All that money has to buy something. :)

It's a shame the Bronx got itself such a rotten reputation. Between Manhattan and Westchester, with a solid working class base, it should have remained a great place to live.
 
Great story, nice to hear the guys in the car turned out to be decent young men.
Like many on here, Im sure, I always seem to pack out more rubbish than I packed in! Nothing annoys me more than seeing our countryside littered with discarded crisp packets, bottles, those plastic "thingies" that hold 6-packs of beer together etc, and I regularly come home from "trotting round the hills" with a bergen full of other peoples trash.

I asked one of the pondlife specimens outside a local takeaway to pick up his dropped pizza box & put it in the bin, only to get the colourful reply of "Do ya want a F***in' smack, ya Twat!"
Im quite a big guy, but dont like trouble, but nonetheless replied "Yes, please, but wont you be embarrassed when i kick the Crap out of you for dropping a pizza box?"
His mates all laughed, I DIDNT get a smack & he DID pick up the pizza box! LOL
Just a shame that High school kids (though I doubt he actually ATTENDED very often!) here seem to be lacking in any sort of social awareness, and have zero consideration for other people & only seem to idolise scumbags like whichever yobbish footballer/pop star/minor tv personality is currently in vogue.
Im sorry to say that I suspect its a uniquely British trait, I visit Spain quite often & I havent seen gangs of feral kids hanging around the streets there.
 
My personal pet peeve is when someone empties the ash tray from their car onto the parking lot...disgusting..I caught some fat pig doing this and told her if she didnt pick up every butt I was calling the cops. She did because when I am pissed...Im scary...heeeee:jerkit:
 
Hey Stu, I'm from Warrington originally. The kids here are just the same, if anyone tells you that the young Japanese are a clean, polite lot, think again. Its always the older generation that are in the park picking up packaging, bottles and crap after the 'little darlings' leave.

It seems its all over the world, this is the price we pay for two working parents so they can get all that 'stuff' they simply can't live without.

On my hikes in a National Park I find bottles, paper, batteries, and air conditioner, chop sticks, a damaged umbrella, the list goes on. Scum, they should be kneecapped with a drill.
 
Hi, Temper.
Blimey, youre a long way from home! I was Assistant Manager of Maplin Electronics at Cockhedge Centre in Warrington for a while!
I feel slightly better knowing its not just British "YOOFS" who are toe-rags!
Its just that Manchester, & Stockport (where I am!) in particular seems to be full of scrotes/scallys/chavs call em what you will. Typical look, scrawny, weasly face, sores around the mouth, bumfluff moustache & vacant expression, cheap baseball cap, alot of cheap jewelery, striped polo shirt usually by Ben Sherman/Burberry/ some other naff label, tracksuit/shellsuit bottoms tucked into socks!! & trainers or Rockport boots.
One wag, on a website having a dig at Stockport even called it "St-Rockport"! LOL

No doubt Japan was a VERY good move for you. Ive never visited but its DEFINITELY on the list, one of my friends, Katie, (a colleague from Selfridges, FULL of hotties!!) did a modelling job there & loved it.
 
Ah yes, the malnurished weasle look. Most have hair like a Norwegian ship rat too LOL *Shudder* and all that jewelry from bastions of class like Argos or the ka-a-log*must be said with manc accent :)

I remember that Maplins, wasn't it next to Time Square (is that still open? I haven't been back to the UK for 11 years this summer)

Japan is OK for a visit but not long term, I'm climbing the wall to get out of here.


LOL good to know things havent changed :rolleyes:
 
Ahhhh... litter...

I used to have (kinda still do) a job of maintenance man for a trailer park we lived in. One of my duties was to walk around the park and pick up the litter. I said no to cigarette buts, that would have tripled the time it took. One tip that saved me a lot of hassles was a crochet hoop to hold the bag open against the wind. Also, crunching the pop cans saved space.

The thing that amazed me the most... It would be below Zero temps for a solid week here in Missouri and people would roll down their windows to throw trash out! :eek::mad:

Best story... Saw what I thought was a kickball a couple of driveways up, I always nudged them up into someone's yard for the kids to get. When I get up to it, it was a damn bowling ball! I was at the far end of the park, the furthest you could get from the clubhouse, and there was no way in hell i was carrying a 16 pounder that far. I noticed a bag a bit futher on, so I carried it to that and dropped it in. I guessed that some kids had found it and rolled it down the road.
 
Hi All-

My favorite is when I'm mountainbiking on some remote trail and find an old inner-tube discarded in the woods. If a rider is fit enough to reach that spot, he or she is fit enough to carry the popped tube to the trailhead to properly toss it in the garbage.

My second peeve is PowerBar wrappers littering the trails. What is it with these so-called naturalists and their inability to actually respect nature?

~ Blue Jays ~
 
"ka-a-log" Ah, thats VERY funny!
Times square's no longer there, in fact when I was last there in Jan-Feb, the Maplins was sandwiched between a closed down "PC World" & another empty unit.
Sadly, Maplins seemed to attract the scumbag element, I had a guy at the Stockport one spit on me when I didnt give him a refund, so grapped him by the scruff of the neck & belt & "guided" (i.e THREW!) him through the doors, got a warning for that, nice to know your employer backs you up, eh?
I eventually left the company, when, after a pretty full-on fisticuffs fight with 3 shoplifters, I asked the Regional Manager for a Security Guard & said I really wasnt happy dealing with incidents like this, he replied "That's shop work for you!?!" I told him that wasnt a good enough answer & resigned. The next day two of my guys were threatened with a switchblade, again the Regional Manager wasnt bothered!
 
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