TODAY WAS A VERY SPECIAL DAY

 

Today was a gorgeous day.  At 5:00, I raced out to pick up trash.  I knew just where I wanted to go, Arlington & Wilbeth.  Didn't get that far though.  I saw trash at Inman & Wilbeth, and I thought I'd hurry up and take care of that first.

I picked up 1,214 pieces of trash around that intersection, and I smiled the whole time.  If anybody asked me why I was so happy, I'd say, "Because I picked up the litter on Waterloo Road over the weekend!"  (Anything I do is a piece of cake after that.)

I was still smiling when I saw this truck in the parking lot.  My guess is the guy who drives this pickup truck doesn't litter.  There's a trash bag full of garbage on his dash.  How on earth does he see out?

I had promised the dogs I would take them to the park.  I hate to break a promise, but darkness sneaked up on me.  If they were disappointed we weren't going to the park, they didn't say anything.  I put them on their leashes and decided to take a nice walk on Wilbeth Road.  It has very bright street lights, and I feel safe walking there, even in the dark.

The dogs seemed pretty happy.  I was noticing how nice and clean this area looked, and we turned the corner from Firestone to Wilbeth, and I could see broken glass sparkling from the street lights.  Before Henry cut his nose on a piece of glass, I might not have noticed broken glass on the sidewalk, but I sure notice now.

We immediately turned around and headed back home.

I put the dogs in the house and got my broom and dustpan and went straight back to clean up the glass before somebody's pet cut their paws.

I picked up 109 pieces of glass on six sidewalk slabs.  And it was the clear glass, the kind you can't really see in the daylight.  It looked like diamonds in the dark.  But broken glass is not diamonds.  It's mean and cruel.  Who would do this knowing people walk their dogs on this sidewalk?  

As I was walking home, I was thinking about how angry I was when Henry got hurt that the City of Akron didn't do more to keep our sidewalks clean and safe.  But how could they?  This bottle was just thrown from a car.  

I think it's up to us, the people who live in our neighborhoods, to watch for danger, and if we see broken glass, rush to clean it up.

Do you agree?  Maybe it's not our fault there's broken glass on the sidewalk, but we can sweep it up and be a hero to our pets and children.