Handing litter back to litterbugs

January 15, 2022, 11:33 AM

A few minutes ago one of the utility-marking company trucks showed up in my driveway. Fella got out with his gear and proceeded to spray orange paint on the neighbor's yard. I snickered about it, thinking, "glad I don't have to go out right now." Truly, I didn't care.

Until he tossed his cigarette butt out onto my driveway.

I'm about as non-confrontational as it gets. But this really got under my skin. So I put on my shoes, headed to the driveway, picked up the butt, and handed it back to him. "How about not leaving that on my driveway, sir?"

The response: "Oh, umm..."

Jeepers, man! If you smoke in the company truck, that's not of my concern. But keep your soggy old butt to yourself!

January 15, 2022, 12:19 PM

BigSwede

Nice. I think I would have done the same

January 15, 2022, 12:27 PM

1s1k

I wouldn’t have touched it but I’m a germ a phobic.

January 15, 2022, 12:50 PM

Graniteguy

I have returned plenty of trash on my road to the rightful owners driveways and front yards.

Strangers dumping trash on your road is one thing - but asswipes dumping their trash in their own neighborhood is a different matter altogether.

January 15, 2022, 01:00 PM

spunk639

Some confrontations aren’t worth it. My fear is the person tossing the litter is an absolute psycho and a raging physical confrontation starts. I witnessed one first hand in my neighborhood supermarket when I was a kid guy beeped his horn at another car, some yelling ensued, then the guy who got beeped at began smashing the guys head into the steering wheel repeatedly, pulled him out and beat the guy to a bloody pulp. When the cops came he got arrested, knew the crazed guy from the neighborhood never did a day in jail that I knew of. Not worth the risk for that.

January 15, 2022, 01:33 PM

V-Tail

I watched a smoker toss a burning butt on the sidewalk.

A dude picked it up and gave it back to the smoker, saying "Excuse me, I think you dropped this," and dude dropped it into a shopping bag that the smoker was carrying.

January 15, 2022, 01:41 PM

ZSMICHAEL

quote:
Some confrontations aren’t worth it. My fear is the person tossing the litter is an absolute psycho and a raging physical confrontation starts. I witnessed one first hand in my neighborhood supermarket when I was a kid guy beeped his horn at another car, some yelling ensued, then the guy who got beeped at began smashing the guys head into the steering wheel repeatedly, pulled him out and beat the guy to a bloody pulp. When the cops came he got arrested, knew the crazed guy from the neighborhood never did a day in jail that I knew of. Not worth the risk for that.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Yes I have seen the same and worse. Since I do not currently have burly bodyguards I let it go.

January 15, 2022, 02:01 PM

vthoky

quote:
Originally posted by 1s1k:
I wouldn’t have touched it but I’m a germ a phobic.

quote:
Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Since I do not currently have burly bodyguards I let it go.

These are two good reasons that this probably wasn't the wisest thing I could have done today....

January 15, 2022, 04:16 PM

selogic

I just saw a Facebook post from our local PD . Officer went on an illegal dumping call . Found something that identified the person . Made contact with the guy and told him to go clean up his mess or face a pricey ticket . I think he should have gotten both .

January 15, 2022, 05:53 PM

barryinpa

I have neighbors who tend to be not so tidy with their trash. when it blows into my property, I take it up to their house and staple it to their porch. they never say anything, but they must know who does it. wish they would move away.
Barry

January 16, 2022, 02:02 PM

sigmonkey

quote:
Originally posted by V-Tail:..

...picked it up and gave it back to the smoker, saying "Excuse me, I think you dropped this,"...

Back in the early 80's when I was young and stupid ( I repeat myself...), I and a good friend on Harley's, were behind a guy and gal in a car at a traffic light, guy flips a butt out driver window, and I put kickstand down, went and picked up the butt and dropped inside his car saying "I think you dropped this." and walked back to my bike, light turned green and we rode off.

Would not be so stupid today.

Coulda got shot, or ran over.

But, back then, I was bullet proof. (Then I got a daughter, and I realized I wasn't "all my own" anymore.

January 19, 2022, 12:51 PM

You should have a lot out in the country with a private road.

One summer, I find lunch papers in the drive way. Next day around lunch time, there he is sound asleep. I pull in behind him and get out and tap on the window. He sees that he is blocked in and tells me to move my truck. I tell him he needs to pick up the trash he throw out. He says the trash is not has. By that time, he sees that I am armed so he gets out picks up his McDonald's lunch trash.

Then there is the UPS driver that pulls up in front of the lot and stands in the passenger side door way and looks up and down the roadway and see no one so he waters the grass. What he doesn't see is the game camera shooting video of his actions.

Then one day, I come out to go home and there are six to eight Spanish guys smoking and cigarette butts all over the ground. Nice that they picked up the butts when told.

January 19, 2022, 01:04 PM

arfmel

Driving home from town one day I noticed that some nice person had pitched their rotten mattress over our barbed wire fence, along with an assortment of their other household garbage. One item they left was a dry cleaner receipt with their name and phone number on it. A Sheriff’s Deputy prevailed on the miscreants to clean up their trash.

January 20, 2022, 07:17 AM

smlsig

quote:
Originally posted by selogic:
I just saw a Facebook post from our local PD . Officer went on an illegal dumping call . Found something that identified the person . Made contact with the guy and told him to go clean up his mess or face a pricey ticket . I think he should have gotten both .

Did anyone else have the song “Alice’s Restaurant” playing in their head when they read this???

January 21, 2022, 08:18 AM

ragman

In my county even if you have a name, address and ss# you can not get any thing done. You will be told that unless you witness the event and have photos, their is nothing they will do.
I live on my farm and it is a constant battle to stop the trash dumpers. I have been threaten, cussed out and told my home would be burned down.I will not say how I handled these things but these people have not been back.
Yesterday I was checking the farm when I found 3 large boxes of can goods and food stuffs. The boxes had not been their more than a day and the food was all good. On the side of the boxes it said, "1/10/22 ----- Food Bank. How low do you get.

January 28, 2022, 03:37 AM

cparktd

Simi related perhaps...

Facebook post the other day...

I honked at a car to get the drivers attention as they pulled out of their parking spot at Krogers. The young twat behind the wheel just gave me the finger and sped away...

OK... But I'm guessing the cell phone on the roof of her car won't still be there when she gets where she is going.

January 28, 2022, 07:12 AM

vthoky

quote:
Originally posted by cparktd:
I'm guessing the cell phone on the roof of her car won't still be there when she gets where she is going.

January 28, 2022, 02:54 PM

jed7s9b

I live in semi rural setting and I hate to see the litter from passing motorist. I regularly do the roadside pickup and always fill two 30 gallon bags in the short 1/4 mile distance along both sides of the road.
Last week a mattress appeared beside the road. I figured I’d drag to the back 40 and burn it since the county likely won’t pick it up until the big clean up for The Kentucky Derby. I splashed it with diesel fuel and lit it up. Lots of black smoke and slow progress so I put the fire out. I then had to fold and tie that stinking, fuel soaked mess in half so it would fit through the door on the back of my truck cap and haul it to the big dumpster at work. Big fun.
A pallet appeared later. It still had a receivers name and info. I emailed that individual. She has security cam pics of it in a delivery guys van. He just decided to dump it on his way home. She made sure his employer saw to it that he pick up that mess.
Most of the trash here seems to be beer, fast food, plastic bags, and car parts.