IT'S EVEN SUPER HOT PICKING UP TRASH IN THE SHADE!

 

I told some friends I dreaded going out tonight.  Dangerously hot, but if I want to reach my mini goal of 750,000 pieces by the end of this month, I can't skip any days.

So off I went to an area that I thought shouldn't be too messy, and all in the shade.

I was right about the shade . . . but clearly wrong about the amount of trash.  It was awful!

And there was a family sitting outside with their kids, and I wondered how they could stand to sit there with all the trash across the street?  

How do people get used to seeing trash and not notice it?

This is what they were looking at as they relaxed outside . . . lots and lots of baby diapers!  

Seriously?  Who throws baby diapers in the grass?  That's so disgusting!

The heat didn't bother me as much as the baby diapers.

But when I looked back at the area I cleaned, it helped me keep going.

This is such a pretty area.  It may be one of the prettiest areas in the City of Akron.  Why does it get trashed like this?

There was so much broken glass on the sidewalks.  I picked up at least 20 piles of glass tonight.

But I kept forging ahead.

I wasn't even to 1,000 pieces when a woman called to me.  I was really focused on my numbers and staying positive and I didn't hear her at first.  She called to me again.  She said, "Can I please put my trash in your trash can?  I don't want to throw it on the ground."

It must have been the heat, but I just looked at her with such a stupid look on my face.  I was thinking, "Why?  Look around?  Does your piece of trash really matter?"

But of course, that's not what I said.  I told her, "Of course!  Thank you so much!"   

I thought if I could just make it another block, there wouldn't be much trash, because I just cleaned it last weekend.

Think again!  Oh my goodness, it was worse than it was a few days ago!

I could think, "What am I doing? This is a waste of time.  It doesn't do any good."

But I am choosing to think, "Sure is a good thing I'm here.  This area really needs me."

So I got that all cleaned up, and at the end of the street . . . 

So much more!  How many people walk and drive by here to have this much trash?  I've never seen so much litter in my life!

I was hurrying, because my phone alarm was going to go off any minute, and I was a long way from my car.

There was a very nice family sitting out on their porch, and I cleaned all the trash in their yard, and when I got close enough, I told them I wasn't being rude, but I was counting the pieces, and we all looked across the street at the area I just cleaned  

The woman said, "You are so fast!  What a difference you made!"

That really made me feel good.   It would make me feel even better if I saw her over there picking up trash some day.  It's not that hard.  Anybody can do it.

I was almost back to my car and . . .

I looked down along the edge of the parking lot and found a $20 bill.

What are the chances?  On a crazy hard day . . . somebody was telling me "Thank you!"

I walked over to the dumpster and emptied my bag, and a little boy rode up on a bicycle.  He was so cute, maybe 8 years old, and he said, "God Bless You!"  

I looked around, and there were no parents to tell him to say that.  I almost cried.  What a nice little boy.

It was a good day.