YOU WANT DRAMA? PICK UP TRASH!

 

I talked to several people tonight.  The first one was a very old man.  I saw him walk very slowly with a chair, and sit in his front yard with a neck pillow.  

As I picked up trash, I worked that way, and I was afraid he couldn't hear well.  I started talking to him, and he could hear very well.  He was very nice.  

We talked about the litter and how fast the cars drive down this street.

The neighbor next door heard me talking to him, and he came out front and told me he has seen me picking up trash the last two summers, and if I ever wanted water or ice tea, he's home all the time.  He was very nice too.

He obviously cares about taking care of his property.

I cleaned west on this street and there was so much trash in front of this house.  I had it almost cleaned up, and a woman pulled her car in on the grass.  No clue how she can keep her mirrors parking like that on this street, but whatever.

Anyway, I'm used to people thanking me for picking up the trash on their property.  She came toward me and put a can in my bucket!  Didn't say a word, just plunked it into my bucket.  

I don't put cans in my bucket.  I recycle them, so I took it out and smashed it, and she was gone.

She was not very nice at all.

I continued cleaning to the corner of Sylvan and Barbara and then headed back to the parking lot where I found bolts and screws yesterday.

A couple pulled in with two little kids, driving this gorgeous car.  Obviously, he was very proud of it.  I walked over to him and showed him the picture of the bolts and screws I picked up the night before.  He wasn't real interested.

I went ahead and picked up another dozen bolts and screws that I had missed.  And when I got back to his car, just look at the bolt on the cement!

I have no idea how he didn't get a flat.  You would think he would have been more interested, and possibly even helped me look for any strays, don't you? 

(Maybe he'll need a couple flat tires before he cares.)

After I finished that, I headed back toward Barbara, and I saw this very full trash bag with the bottom half chewed off at the apartment where I helped this family clean up six or seven trash bags last summer.  Do you remember?  Oh my goodness! They're doing it again!

I don't know why people buy great big 42-gallon construction bags.  Sure it's nice to have big bags.  You can get a lot of garbage in one.  But then you can't move it!

I'm pretty sure that's what happened here.  They filled up the bag, and nobody could get it to the dumpster, which was about 30 steps away!  Yes, only 30 steps!

I cleaned up all the pieces of trash in the yard and then hoisted the trash bag on my cart and got it to the dumpster.  

Had I not done this, that whole bag of trash would have been scattered all over the area.  Ick!

I found this vicious looking liquor bottle broken on the sidewalk. 

Kids ride scooters and roller skate in this parking lot!  Good grief!  At least the pieces were big and easy to pick up.

I headed back out toward Barbara to finish up, and I heard a thunderous crash.  Then I heard screaming.  I hurried around the corner and saw the accident.

Apparently this car ran the stop sign, where I just cleaned, and hit a red pickup truck and then ran into this fence.  

I hurried up and called 911.  When the call was answered, I told the dispatcher where the emergency was.  "Sylvan and Barbara."  He asked me to spell it.  I said, "S-y-l-v-a-n."  He said, "Oh, that's the City of Akron.  I'll transfer you."

So when you call 911 from the City of Akron, who exactly are you getting?  That was crazy.  Someone else answered, and then I heard sirens.  Apparently somebody else called the 911 that works.

By the time I left, there were six police cars, two emergency vehicles and two fire trucks!  Wow!  

I think there was a little child in the back seat of the pickup truck, and she was hurt.  Very sad. 

I went back to picking up trash and finished this area.  I picked up 1,943 pieces today.