  Detroitstar Member Username: Detroitstar Post Number: 1434 Registered: 01-2006 |
So I was at the corner of Woodward and Willis about 10 minutes ago waiting to catch the 53 downtown. A lady there was polishing off a pint of whiskey, 1 of at least 4 that I could see in her bag. She finished it and tossed it to the grassy knoll behind us. Very against my nature, but the RIGHT THING TO DO, I asked her to please pick it up and put it in the trash bin that she was leaning on the entire time she was drinking it. This was her response: "Aint no kid gonna tell me where to put my trash. Back the ***k outa my face." I responded by saying "you are the trash, maam." At which point she threw the bottle at my feet, breaking it on the ground. I picked up the shards of glass along with a couple bottles laying around, as others looked on and snickered. Seriously people, have some respect for others and your city. It all starts with respecting yourself and your neighborhoods. It is not that difficult to use that brain in your head, tiny as it may be. Rant over | ||
Gnome Member Username: Gnome Post Number: 2419 Registered: 08-2007 |
What was Monica doing riding the bus? I thought she had a chauffer... Good job DStar, you were right in every regard. | ||
Detroitnerd Member Username: Detroitnerd Post Number: 3575 Registered: 07-2004 |
Probably would have just been more effective to throw the bottle away for her in the first place, and then ask her, "Was that so hard?" Then again, I understand her point of view too. I've lived in this city all my fuckin' life, and now some kid gonna tell me how to roll? That's why you gotta pick your targets if you're into street-level anti-litter campaigning (props for saying "please" notwithstanding). If somebody looks like they wouldn't do it unless they were on Woodward, maybe you have a chance. As for the crazy-ass ho drunk at midday, well, you probably ain't gonna reform her with a gentle suggestion.  | ||
Det_ard Member Username: Det_ard Post Number: 37 Registered: 02-2009 |
I wonder who she voted for yesterday. | ||
Tetsua Member Username: Tetsua Post Number: 1551 Registered: 01-2004 |
quote: You REALLY, think she voted lol. | ||
Crumbled_pavement Member Username: Crumbled_pavement Post Number: 720 Registered: 08-2007 |
People must learn to respect themselves first before they can learn to respect anything or anyone else. If this woman was polishing off a pint of whiskey straight then I think the trash on the ground was the least of her concerns. Creating a tidy environment for someone as dysfunctional as this woman would not solve any problems. We have to get at the root of why people don't respect themselves and then move forward. | ||
6nois Member Username: 6nois Post Number: 803 Registered: 11-2006 |
Thank you DetroitStar. I was at the gas station at Woodward and Palmer earlier this year and had a similar incident. There was this woman in the passenger seat of a van and she was eating chips. Once she had finished the bag she rolled down her window and tossed it on the ground, just as I was finishing pumping. I look at her and said "seriously, could you please pick that up" She just rolled up her window, so I picked it up and threw it out for her, there are trash cans all over as we were at a gas station, or she could have kept it in her car and threw it out at home, but whatever. So after I tossed her rubbish I get in my car, and she rolls down her window and shouts, "aint no faggy a** cracker gonna tell me what I should do! B****!" I really wish people would just do the right thing, its not that hard to put your trash in a can. But if your perception is that you live in a dump, I suppose you don't have much respect for your surroundings. So I always just try to set a good example when people act in such a manner. | ||
Iddude313 Member Username: Iddude313 Post Number: 177 Registered: 07-2005 |
Yep. I think littering is Detroit's biggest ignored problem. If the place looks trashy then you are not likely to feel the need to throw your trash in the proper place. But then again, in most locations there are no trash cans. And some of the folks that go poking around in the bins just throw the trash on the street looking for cans and don't put the trash they threw out back. I never ever litter and I even pick up the trash around my building when I can. I don't expect any praise but I just have to do it because it bothers me doing nothing about it. | ||
East_detroit Member Username: East_detroit Post Number: 1996 Registered: 11-2003 |
Well intended, but calling her a name was declasse'. B minus. | ||
Diehard Member Username: Diehard Post Number: 678 Registered: 03-2005 |
That DOES sound like the City Council - they know the right thing to do, and they might have considered doing it, but YOU had to go and ask them to do it, so forget it. No way are they gon' let somebody tell them what to do. Hmmph. Actually, it kind of sounds like Republicans after Obama's speech last night, too. | ||
Swimmaven Member Username: Swimmaven Post Number: 34 Registered: 05-2007 |
I had to go to a job test for the census and it was in a part of town I don't bother with. I went down one of the side streets and was appalled at all the trash in the gutters. I live in Long Beach, CA. I do not understand why poor people act this way, except that it is ingrained now with several generations of behavior. | ||
Rj_spangler Member Username: Rj_spangler Post Number: 115 Registered: 10-2008 |
How about the people that emty out there ashtrays in a parking lot, a few feet froma trash can? My buddy Hollis lives in the eastern amrket area and says people park in fron of his place and throw chicken bones and all kind of crap out the car window, right onto the street. This is wht Detroit looks so bad -- so many peopel just don't crae. Maybe that is what their parents did? I have no idea. I have never littered in my life, so how would I know? How about all the dumping in vacant lots? Like we need to see their old tires and appliances strewn about the city. I wish people cared about where they live. | ||
Rj_spangler Member Username: Rj_spangler Post Number: 116 Registered: 10-2008 |
One more thing -- when Hollis tells them to pick-up their trash, he often gets responses like "get your white ass outa Detroit." Nice, eh? | ||
Sean_of_detroit Member Username: Sean_of_detroit Post Number: 2319 Registered: 03-2008 |
I admire your effort, but agree you might want to ask, not tell. It is also the nature of a donkey to be stubborn when forced up a mountain. You must use a carrot to get a donkey to move. I personally am just nice to people, and pick up trash when I'm with them. Low and behold many of them start making an effort themselves. Strike up conversations with these people first. If they get along with you, try to fit it in; if they don't get along with you, act like you approve of littering. My young friends went from throwing fast food trash out windows, to hanging onto their trash and even telling their friends not to litter, because they understand and like us, and want to help the cause. On the other hand, I have this one acquaintance who doesn't like me very much. He is now an avid supporter of people keeping the city clean because I led him to believe I (and others he doesn't like) support it through not caring. Donkey meet carrot. PS: I'm using analogies, and do not actually consider these people donkeys... well most of them anyway. | ||
Southwestmap Member Username: Southwestmap Post Number: 937 Registered: 01-2005 |
My neighbor's daughter visits from the suburbs. She desperately want her mother to "get out" of the city. One night a month or so ago I watched the young woman buckle her baby in the backseat and then bend over and scrape a lot of baby litter into her mother's gutter - used tissues, etc. Her Mother is scrupulously clean and she was going to clean it up in the morning and complain about all the neighborhood litterers! I picked it all up and put it in a zip-lock bag. I'm still debating if I should give it to the suburban daughter sometime. | ||
Chiclette Member Username: Chiclette Post Number: 26 Registered: 02-2009 |
Or like the man from the fish market... shoot'em | ||
Bobby08 Member Username: Bobby08 Post Number: 147 Registered: 09-2008 |
I recall, receiving a parking ticket near my home in Indian Villagg. I ripped up the ticket and flung the pieces on the ground, a neighbor witnessed my behavior and said " Hey, are you gonna pick that up? I got in the car and drove off only to look in my rearview mirror at him picking up the pieces. I felt like SHIT to say the least! | ||
Rjlj Member Username: Rjlj Post Number: 804 Registered: 11-2003 |
Our tax dollars at work. Was she hot? | ||
Lilpup Member Username: Lilpup Post Number: 5344 Registered: 06-2004 |
could put those tax dollars to work generating more dollars if the cops started enforcing litter laws | ||
Downtown_lady Member Username: Downtown_lady Post Number: 575 Registered: 08-2008 |
Southwestmap: Yes, give the trash to the suburban daughter. Chiclette: No, don't shoot them. | ||
Detroitnerd Member Username: Detroitnerd Post Number: 3578 Registered: 07-2004 |
Downtown_lady: Call me treetop-lover. | ||
Sumas Member Username: Sumas Post Number: 758 Registered: 01-2008 |
We were at Mariner's Park this summer. Mostly just fishermen use it. Lots of trash every where. I pickup one section before we left. There were handy trash cans every where. A youngish man handed me some wet wipes to clean my hands when I was done. It seemed nice at the time but why didn't he help pick up the garbage? (Message edited by sumas on February 25, 2009) | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 9064 Registered: 12-2003 |
Rj, That's pretty funny, them thinking Hollis is white! Cheers You think these people are pigs? They are NOTHING compared to the Lions tailgaters in Eastern Market. THEY are trash... | ||
Jayjoejee Member Username: Jayjoejee Post Number: 1 Registered: 02-2009 |
Let's be honest, a majority of the COD area dwellers are just plain lazy and I'm sure when everyone sees the job being done for them, it doesn't encourage them take the initiative: http://www.cleandowntown.org/t eam.asp | ||
Drjeff Member Username: Drjeff Post Number: 48 Registered: 06-2007 |
I walk around the city quite a bit when the weather is decent. When it gets warmer, I think I'm going to start carrying a trash bag in my pocket and pick up trash as I go. Every little bit helps. | ||
Detroitstar Member Username: Detroitstar Post Number: 1435 Registered: 01-2006 |
How in the hell can you say I should ask...not tell. I consider the area around my home (less then a block away) to be my home. I pick up the trash in my yard because I take pride in my home and my hood. So when some alchie comes in and trashes my neighborhood I have every right to demand that she pick it up. Taking ownership in our neighborhoods is the most important part of solving this problem. | ||
6nois Member Username: 6nois Post Number: 805 Registered: 11-2006 |
Very much so DetroitStar. Do people still dump the trash cans at the corner of Woodward and Willis out? When I worked on the corner there it was a weekly event always made me so mad when I would get into work. | ||
Jayjoejee Member Username: Jayjoejee Post Number: 2 Registered: 02-2009 |
I've still seen people dumping stuff in lots off of Woodward in Highland Park on weekday nights while driving down Woodward. I live in Detroit and I pick up litter all the time around my building, but I have a feeling that most of these litters don't really care about the environment they live in. Probably is reflected in the places they live as well. | ||
Gene Member Username: Gene Post Number: 202 Registered: 10-2006 |
Go to Belle Isle on a Saturday or Sunday morning in the summer, they should change the name back to Pig Island. | ||
Bobl Member Username: Bobl Post Number: 567 Registered: 07-2008 |
Detroitstar: An important part of your contribution is the "I picked up the shards of glass along with a couple bottles laying around, as others looked on and snickered." As others looked on and snickered! Instead of helping you and perhaps defusing the situation they snickered at you. I guess this is part of the "don't snitch" mentality that allows irresponsible and illegal behavior to continue. People need to step up and do the right thing, as you did. |
