It troubles me deeply when I pull into a parking lot and see dirty diapers, emptied ashtrays, fast food bags left over from someone’s meal, or anything else someone threw from their vehicle or as they walked by. At first, you wonder if maybe they were raised in a barn, you know the old expression used when someone has no manners, no respect for other people’s property. It troubles me deeply when I go into a convenience store where they have self-serve fountain drinks, coffee, and other drinks like maybe the popular frozen ones. You see sugar, creamer, and stir sticks strewn all over the countertop, some even on the floors. You see fountain drinks, ice, and straw wrappers too. At first, you wonder if maybe they don’t know any better because they have their mothers, wives, or girlfriends cleaning up all their messes at home, or maybe it is the mothers, wives, and girlfriends making the messes. It troubles me deeply when I sit in a family restaurant with every intention of relaxing in good company and enjoying a good meal. Only to see the table across from me with unruly children being loud, making messes on the table and floors as if they were at their backyard playground. Then, all of it is left as they gather their children and leave. The only thing they did not leave is a tip for the person who must clean up the mess they left behind. I cannot help but wonder if maybe they just didn’t notice the mess being preoccupied with their children and their phones. It troubles me deeply that we, as a society, see all these things happening every day all around us and say or do nothing. It troubles me deeply that we make excuses for them and try to accept it as the new norm. It troubles me deeply that while we live in a world that raises so much hell, about factories polluting our water and land, and vote for regulations to stop global warming, all the while we cannot walk 20 feet to a trash can, or 3 feet to get something to clean the coffee creamer we spill on the counters. We cannot control our own children, but we want to complain about how this country is run. Men are too proud to sit on a toilet to urinate but are perfectly fine with standing in front of a urinal and urinating on the floor and their feet. Then complain to the manager about how the bathroom smells like an outhouse. It troubles me deeply that none of these things I mentioned bother you. It troubles me deeply to know that you are our future. Now, I wonder what troubles you, and what if anything do you intend to do about it?
Simply my Thoughts
Dean Butler
