Trash-Pitching Hemorrhoids

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I was following a late model Cadillac sedan through an upper middleclass residential neighborhood when the driver slowed. Suddenly the widows on all four doors rolled down and empty fast food bags, empty beverage cans, assorted waste paper and at least two disposable diapers began decorating neatly landscaped front yards. The car then resumed speed. Another instance: I was pulling our RV south in the right lane of I 75 when a compact car passed me on my left. As the car pulled ahead of me, a very soiled disposable diaper issued from the passenger's window and smashed into my windshield completely blocking my vision. I had to quickly pull off of the highway and clean the disgusting mess off my windshield and the hood of my truck before I could continue.

I am both angered and dismayed when I have to pick up several pieces of detritus discarded from passing autos before I can mow my front yard. I can't begin to fathom what prompts a trash-pitching hemorrhoid to deliberately foul someone else's property. Every state I have lived in or been through has posted fines for littering. Once I did report the license number of a car from which was thrown a grocery bag of trash that exploded all over the road in front of me. The policeman who took my report asked if I could identify the driver if I saw the person again. I couldn't because the car was speeding past me at the time. The officer said he couldn't do anything about this act of vandalism because I would not be able to prove who threw the garbage. It seems the law pertains to the person doing the littering not the vehicle from which the trash is discarded.

I suppose one could argue for the upside of littering. All this trash that decorates the ditches, berms and public right-of-ways provides employment for federal, state, and local workers as well as a fair number of prisoners and persons sentenced to community service. It also provides an opportunity for public-minded companies and individuals to adopt a highway. But why should this be necessary at all? Is it sloth, carelessness, thoughtlessness, lack of proper regard for other people's property and the environment, or lousy parenting?

Trash containers abound in our cities, towns, and hamlets. Most municipalities in which I have lived have some kind of scheduled trash collection. Trash can be deposited at almost all fast food stops and gas stations, roadside parks and rest areas. I have even seen trash deposited in recycling bins, which to me is the most odious kind of littering. In any event, I consider those who litter to be the epitome of human hemorrhoids because there is absolutely no excuse for them doing so.