Leave no trace. Unbelievably they still have never heard of it! New Yorkers throw garbage in the streets; they throw it right out their car windows. They leave garbage in their parks, like each group of people had a dire and immediate emergency giving them no time to gather the trash that they accumulated during their time enjoying the park. Go to Coney Island on a Sunday evening of a big summer weekend. Disgusting. I am fairly certain that they would not have chosen the spot if it was only marginally as filthy as they left it. Somehow, those driving their Mercedes and discarding cups out their windows enrages me more than someone in a jalopy doing the same. I still have a false impression that having money also means having a developed social conscious. There is no correlation.
I guess it’s a cultural thing rather than a wealth thing. We traveled in the northwest last month. There was very little garbage in the streets and the city parks seemed spotless. You could lie on the grass without the worry that a broken shard of glass will slice you. My 16-month old son could explore more freely. We have the same mediocre public education as in Seattle, so it is not just lack of education. The culture here in Brooklyn is basically, “Fuck you, I will get and take care of my own, someone else will clean it up,” while not realizing that they depend heavily on the city infrastructure, namely the parks and sanitation departments. There are great playgrounds nearby, with big, new green signs saying to “pick up your trash” and broken glass and used fast food rappers at the landing of the slides in the morning. It is the “third world” in the full context of the misnomer propped up by the media - filthy, backward, ignorant, closed-minded, and dependent.
Upon arrival home from a trip, I often wonder why I let this be my home!
