Blowin’ in the Wind

It’s bad enough when tourists trash our mountain communities and my neighborhood with junk food wrappers, beer cans, broken sleds and dirty diapers, etc., etc., but when a neighbor doesn’t clean up the mess left over from their tipped over trash cans and it blows out to the street and into other people’s yards for four days, it’s quite concerning. Why would someone do that?

The answer my friend is blowin’ in the wind, the answer is blowin’ in the wind. (“Blowin’ in the Wind” – Bob Dylan – 1963)

It’s not just my neighborhood, but other neighborhoods, as well, and you know who you are. Even more perplexing is that my neighbor’s tipped over trash barrel, one of several placed curbside at the end of their driveway, was knocked over, probably by some wild animal or someone’s stray dog, and spewing stinky trash all over the place before the trash truck even arrived. So why didn’t the neighbor clean up their stinky mess? Good question. Can’t someone else do it? (Homer Simpson from the “Trash of the Titans” episode of The Simpsons)

Perhaps the trash company or their customers could provide some sort of restraining device to prevent the barrels from tipping over. Also aggravating is that the irresponsible neighbor in question has driven through and past the pile of stinking refuse every day since it was dumped at the end of their driveway. I didn’t do it, nobody saw me do it, you can’t prove anything. (Bart Simpson – Season One of The Simpsons)

Perhaps they’re in denial, and I’m not talkin’ about de longest river in Africa. It was like that when I got here. (Homer Simpson from Season Two of The Simpsons)

I wish more people would act responsibly, like me. I opted out of the trash pickup service years ago when I was given the option to take my trash to the dump every week so I wouldn’t have to deal with picking up spilled loads of stinky trash. This has worked well for me, since I have a long, steep driveway, which has resulted in me slipping and falling on my buttocks whenever the driveway is wet or icy. I just wish more folks would not turn their heads the other way when their trash gets spewed throughout the neighborhood and pretend they didn’t see it. Until this happens, I won’t feel free.

How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man? Yes, and how many years can a mountain exist before it is washed to the sea? And how many years can some people exist before they’re allowed to be free? Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head and pretend that he just doesn’t see? The answer my friend is blowin’ in the wind, the answer is blowin’ in the wind.

Keep it flyin’, Uncle Mott