These spring evenings have enticed me and my trusty Kerry blue terrier walking partner to the park more often.
On Monday, we arrived just as the sun was setting and the Canada geese were settling on the pond. Two young women runners approached going the opposite way. They sported headbands, high-end runners and plenty of spandex. As she jogged past, one woman took a long last “ drink of water from a plastic bottle. Then, she tossed it on the grass and jogged on.
Excuse me,” I shouted toward the two women. They slowed and turned to look at me. “Who do you think is going to pick that up?” I said gesturing to the discarded bottle.
She turned back muttering, “I didn’t realize…”
“This is everybody’s park,” I added, “not your private dump.”
If I had thought more carefully about my outburst, I might have put more bite into my criticism of the woman’s thoughtless behaviour. I might even have challenged her with the township’s anti-littering bylaw. That way I could actually have threatened the woman with something more serious than just my rant about preserving the parks for the public good.
Somehow, however, I sensed even embarrassing her with the threat of citizen’s arrest or potential legal challenge and/or a fine, might not have fizzed on her. My guess is that plastic bottle was not the first one she’s tossed in a public place. Nor will it be her last.
I think it was a day or so later that I encountered the same attitude on the road. I’m sure this is no surprise to anybody, but I was just a few kilometres from home. As I crossed some railwway tracks – used essentially only by the York-Durham Heritage Railway from spring to fall – I slowed partly because the road’s been heaving, but also because it actually requires cars to “stop before crossing.”
As I slowed to a rolling stop, a guy in a two-door sports car blew past me as if I were standing still. For a second I thought he was going to hit my car. I’m not exactly a poky driver. I stay with the flow most of the time. But clearly this guy had no regard for anybody or anything, but himself.
I think there’s a generational thing happening out there that makes people of a certain age feel as if they are entitled to act this way. Whether spoken or unspoken they say with their actions and attitude that they have inherited all of society’s problems and so are therefore perfectly within their rights to react in kind. Or, at least, they think they’re entitled to act with immunity because they sense they are now custodians of the world’s future and can do with it as they please.
It doesn’t end in the park or on the roads either. I’ve encountered it waiting in line – at the bank, the grocery store, the self-service gas bar or the airport baggage check – where they drift past me because they’re in a hurry. And, of course, I’m not allowed to be in a hurry. They won’t hold a door for somebody in need. They talk on their cell phones almost as loudly as I do projecting my voice to a lecture hall full of students. Or, they’ll text message under the table right in front of you when you think they’re absorbed in the conversation. I’m afraid “the Me Generation” is back and it has little or no regard for anyone or anything in its path. So, get out of the way!
By the way, I called the town office to find out how much power the township has to prosecute individuals who litter in a park, for example. The bylaw prohibits “the throwing, placing or depositing of refuse or debris on private property (and) municipal property.” According to the bylaw, refuse can mean “rubbish, garbage, domestic or commercial liquid or solid waste.” And here’s the best part: anyone found guilty could be liable to a $2,000 fine.
When I checked with the mayor about actually prosecuting somebody under the bylaw, he said, “You’ve got to catch them in the act … fill out a complaint and take them to court … an onerous process at the very least.”
Onerous? Yes. But one day it just might be worth the trouble to make the point. Bottle-tossing joggers, be warned!