I have been altogether too busy lately. At work, my eyeballs are rolling in opposite directions by lunchtime. By the end of the day my brainpower is spent.
A manager's view of summer: everyone else takes their holidays. I work extra to fill in for whoever is away. It does not make for a restful season.
I have planned a couple of days off coming up; just a mini-vacation. I won't be travelling. Just sleeping in and relaxing.
I'm saving some vacation days in the hopes that I can take a longer holiday when the city workers' strike is over. It's been 24 days since garbage collection services stopped, and the city is becoming disgusting. This is what the overflowing trash bins look like on our main streets. Yucko.
We've been fortunate to have a relatively cool, breezy summer so far, but still, those trash bins stink.
I find it very irritating that some citizens of Toronto are continuing to "use" the public trash bins even though they're already overflowing. I guess people think it's OK to leave their garbage on the ground, next to the full bin? Like that's a responsible way to dispose of one's trash? They must know that the next strong wind could blow their coffee cup/candy wrapper/newspaper into the middle of the street. The cumulative effect of all the litter is sad to see.
I would like to confront the lazy bums who are dumping their trash on the streets. If you wanted a coffee so badly that you were willing to carry the cup in your hand as you walked down the street sipping it, then carry the empty cup home with you! By then it hardly even weighs anything! Put the candy wrapper in your pocket! Stick the newspaper under your arm!
The selfishness of those who litter really grinds my gears. This is a beautiful city, but it's becoming crappier by the day because of losers who can't be bothered putting their trash in their own trashcan. It's bad enough that I can't visit my beloved Island park because the ferry drivers are on strike. The rest of the city has to be like a garbage dump too? It stinks. Literally.
19 comments:
Both Sweets and I are disgusted by people who willingly add liter to the streets. Last year, Sweets watched as a kid dropped a whole McDonald's bag and cup out the window of his parked car, which was 3 cars away from an empty trashcan. Sweets marched over to him, picked up his litter, handed it back to him and pointed out the trash can. Apparently, this kid's mother who was drivng the car gave him some lip service (as if she really didn't seem him push that garbage out the window). And when Sweets walked away? Same kid threw that trash out the window again. It's infuriating to see behavior like this.
I agree, it really irritates me to see people toss trash out the window, as if little trash fairies are going to fly by and pick it up. I can keep trash in my car until I get to a can why can't anyone else?
My car is full of trash...but at least it's not out on the street that way!
Cxx
I hate rubbish. What sickens me is when people open their car windows and just chuck their rubbish outside.
How disgusting can you get?
The other thing that gets to me is people who aren't prepared to take their rubbbish to the tip/dump and then empty the contents of their van onto the country lanes.
Wow, things really are turning into an episode of The Simpsons up there, aren't they? Eventually they're going to have to break down and get something done; health hazards are going to abound!
I hope you enjoy your few days off; sounds like you've really earned them!
Wow, that really does stink in everyway.
Sorry for the crap luck with the Ferries too.
Any end to the strike in sight?
Littering makes me sick, who do they think is going to pick up after them?
Their Mother?
Slobs. I really love those jerks that pull over and dump their car ash-trays on the road side or parking lots as well.
Real nice.
Hope you have some relax time soon.
I told you that the strike has been engineered by the island residents, right?
They don't want people like you on "their" island. By "people like you" I mean visitors to the island who, you know, take away the 600 island residents feeling of seclusion and tranquility they feel on their squatted and now legally stolen island.
If I was king of this land, I would push a landbridge worth of dirt into the lake to create a peninsula, thus making the island accessible to all.
And, can I make another pitch for you and Ken to leave Toronto for more peaceful residency in the more beautiful of cities like Markham or Vaughan?
I vivdly recall what NYC was like during the sanitation strike
and I too marvel at how "hooray for me, the hell with you" people can be
I hope things get settled
and I hope you get some rest
Nilsa: Oooh, that would make me boiling mad. Sweets has gained a lot of points in my book for confronting the litterbug. Too bad the mom didn't back him up.
Ron: I've actually chased my own tissues down the street on a windy day if I sneezed and then lost my grip. I didn't notice any trash fairies flying alongside of me, trying to beat me to it.
Claire: That's funny. :-) True enough, we can do what we want with our personal space. I know a lot of people with untidy homes, but they don't litter in public.
Joe: Where do people get the idea that it's OK to do that? It boggles my mind.
darcknyt: Indeed, any comedian would find a gold mine of material in this strike. For example, the rat population is exploding, especially in the parks that are being used as temporary dumps. Exterminators were sent to kill the rats, and animal rights protesters are trying to block them. I guess they want their kids to die of bubonic plague?
powdergirl: So far as I have heard, there is no light at the end of tunnel. This strike has gone on almost twice as along as the previous one. It's a bad situation.
wigsf: Moving out of Toronto is becoming more and more appealing. Now if I could only relocate my job, my friends, and my family (the nice ones) to Markham, I'd be moving there a.s.a.p.
Dianne: Thanks. Actually, I'm lucky to be affected very little by the strike, relatively speaking. Our condo's garbage has always been collected by a private contractor, so nothing has changed at home. Not like my friends, who are spending their weekends driving to the temporary dumps and lining up to drop off their garbage. :-p
It seems that "Toronto the clean" has earned its reputation by providing a technological solution (lots of collection points, then cart it far far away) to a character issue. No more tech, and the symptoms re-appear. Is the general public any less lazy and dirty than 50 years ago without the external supports?
I remember loving your city because it was so beautiful AND CLEAN!! Sorry to hear about what the overflowing trash bins and the lack of cooperation from everyone. Sad, actually.
I hope you're able to get away soon and enjoy some quiet time!
:-( That does stink (I imagine). I sometimes pick recycling out of my downstairs neighbors trash to put in the recycling bin. :-) That's all I've got though.
I bet you're looking forward to those days of rest!!!
One of the blogs I follow is written by a girl in Toronto, and she found a video of someone who was trying to pick up the trash, and the striking trash collectors went out and dumped bags of trash where the people had been trying to pick it up, and called them a bunch of names. It didn't look to me like they cared much about the city they live in. Sad.
I'm sorry you're all having to deal with that up there.
Logan: I don't think Toronto deserves to be called "the Good" or "the Clean" anymore. I still love Toronto, but there's a lot of garbage and too many guns.
Scarlet: It is sad. I'm not sure if it's a good or bad thing that this is the most beautiful summer, weatherwise, that we've seen in years. The lawns, trees, and flowers are abundant and perfect. It kind of makes up for the trash thing... on the other hand think of how lovely it would be if the city was also clean!
Jenski: Yeah, funny thing about recycling. I can understand when people get confused about their home bins, where there are so many rules about what can or can't go in. But we have bins at work that are for paper only. PAPER ONLY. People don't seem to get that. Hello! PLASTIC IS NOT PAPER! Is that really so hard to understand?
Vanessa: The strikers were dumping garbage? That's disgusting. And sad. :-(
Nice post..
I totally hate Litterbugs :(
Sorry you have such a stressfull time.
Hope you can enjoy some days off soon!
I totally hate Litterbugs :(
Sorry you have such a stressfull time.
Hope you can enjoy some days off soon!
I hate it when people litter on purpose for no reason. I've seen people take their last swig out of a water bottle and just throw it on the ground. Even when there's a trashcan nearby.
Sorry to hear about the strike, you'd think it would make people more mindful of trashing the place, but I guess not.
I was wondering if perhaps people were putting litter in the [full] trash cans on purpose since they don't want to store it in their own yard (or don't have a yard).
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