Trash.

I went for a four mile run yesterday.

It was a decent run.  I had a decent time.  It was a relatively nice day (okay, it was 34 degrees, but after about a mile I didn't feel cold anymore - just had watery eyes and the occasional snot drip).  But I didn't reflect positively on nature and being outside and getting into better shape and body image and the sound of my breath yesterday...   I was too distracted by the trash.

I was running down the sidewalk for the majority of my run down a major thoroughfare in our area and all I noticed was garbage.  SO MUCH GARBAGE.  Litter.  Everywhere:

a hub cap
half a hub cap
two beer bottles
soda cans
a discarded mitten
paper
plastic
an exploded soda bottle
newspapers
the carcass of what looked like a mutilated chicken

And of course there was more. More than I could ever hope to remember. 

I'm disgusted by humanity when I see things like this..

I remember a few years ago Michael and I were driving along the road and the people in front of us tossed their entire bag of waste from McDonalds out the window.  We called the cops and gave the license number of those people.  I HATE littering.

I'd rather you steal something from the store than litter.

It's so LAZY and discourteous to everyone. 

I do not understand people who throw their trash out of their car windows.  Why in the world can't you wait ten minutes and place it into a proper waste basket?  Why do you have to make it someone else's problem?

I really don't get it.

I saw a litter crew two days ago cleaning up an "adopted highway".  I thought it was awesome that they were doing it, but at the same time I felt like it gave people all the more reason to litter.  It's like a small child thinking their mother will clean up their messes.  They don't need to do it themselves.

It's a big soapbox for me.  I'm aware.  But it's just so wrong.

It destroys things that could otherwise easily be beautiful.  It teaches disrespect for other people and for the world around you.

Please place your trash in the wastebasket or recycling bin or make it into something cool.  Don't toss it out the window or leave it in the middle of the park.

Thanks.