Kindness: Clean up

The other morning, on the way to work, I saw something that warmed my heart.

It was a sunny morning that was pretty warm, so I decided to walk to catch the bus into town. Its not too long a walk down a nice street with plenty of trees and fun houses to look at. Sometimes I'm one of a very few people walking, and sometimes I am one of many. It was a one of many morning.

The man in front of me, probably in his late 40s or early 50s, was moving along at a good clip. I noticed him stop and pick up something off the ground. I though, maybe he dropped something. But it happened again and again. About 3 or 4 times in all. And I realized he wasn't picking up something he dropped, but something someone else had dropped. Or discarded. Or tried to recycle. He was picking up litter.

When I walk around the city and my neighborhood, I can't help but notice all the trash that's around. It's not that Boston or Cambridge or Somerville are really dirty cities, it's just that they are cities. Period. And trash gets spilled. Recycled papers blow away in the wind before they can be collected on trash day. And people loose things. And people litter, but probably not much more than anywhere else. It's just that you see it when you walk instead of whizzing by in your car and not noticing.

When I walk and notice trash, I usually don't do too much about it. Sometimes if I see a trashcan that blew over I'll right it as long as there's not horrible mess. Sometimes if a box has blown into the street I'll grab it and put it back in its recycling bin so a car doesn't have to swerve to avoid it. And sometimes I'll pick up a plastic bottle if I see an recycling bin or trash can nearby. But I don't spend part of my morning commute actively picking up litter as I go. But this guy did. Which is great. And makes me think that maybe I should do that sometimes too. Just a little that can make a big difference. Or at least a small one in our neighborhood.