Please Bring That Garbage Back, Volunteers, So I Can Clean It Up Myself

I am so embarrassed. While walking the new dog yesterday, I encountered a horde...no, a fleet...no, a BATTALION of volunteers cleaning up garbage on my street. Battalion is the most appropriate way to describe them, as they were dressed in matching uniforms and there were tons of them. They needed those numbers, though, because cleaning up my street is no small job. It is now pristinely clean. Well, almost. The garbage has begun to accumulate again. While I very much appreciate the time they spent cleaning up my neighborhood, running into them shamed me. I am a homeowner here. I should have been doing the work they did. I am very conflicted about their presence on my street.

I live a block off one of the busiest streets in the inner city. It is a major transit hub. The largest liquor store in the Twin Cities is two blocks away. This leads to a lot of foot traffic down my street. In the spring, high winds blow garbage from Lake Street businesses down our block. Last spring and summer, I spent at least one hour every weekend on garbage clean up, and every weekend, there was always an hour more work to do.

This spring and summer, I am in graduate school, and I have been lax. In fact, I have been too busy with homework and this site to really notice how bad the garbage situation had become. Until yesterday, the street looked like a dirty parade had just passed through, a parade sponsored by an alcohol distributor, judging by the number of liquor bottles on the ground. Seeing the volunteers cleaning up turned a spotlight on the litter. As I passed by them with my dog, I felt the spotlight turned on me and my negligence.

Now, there are other people living on my street. In fact, there are more than 50 people living in my building alone. Any of them could have cleaned up the garbage, too. They never do, because they feel that's what their association dues are for. Our management company disagrees. The residents and the association argued about this all last summer. While they pissed and moaned, I went out and cleaned the mess up.

I also recognize that the residents of my building are not the people throwing garbage on the ground, and that the litterers bear the responsibility; however, the litterers have no stake in our property. We do. I wish the people littering were a little more respectful of our home, but I can imagine that if I had no property, if I was unable to access a piece of the American apple pie, I might care less about other people's pie. I might even resent their pie. So, ultimately, it is up to the homeowners to tend their yards. Yes, I get a little annoyed about donning gloves and picking up cigarette butts and beer bottles every weekend, but on the other hand, I get to be outside during the glorious Minnesota spring. The sun shines, the birds chirp, and apart from the litter, the street is picturesque. It's not a bad way to spend an hour.

When I walked past the volunteers who were doing my job, I put my head down and avoided eye contact. I did not say thank you. I was too overwhelmed with shame that I, a perfectly able-bodied homeowner, needed a church or park group to come out and clean up my yard. I wanted them to leave. Today, I am grateful for the head start they gave me on a task I am recommitted to accomplishing. I will make my neighborhood a better place, because neighborhoods are important. It is not just about property values and safety. It is about self respect. Everyone on my block deserves self respect, even if they don't know how to achieve it. I believe that keeping our homes clean and respectable-looking is a start. It is something I can do, my brand of grassroots activism. The volunteers and I share the same values. My behavior yesterday put us at odds.

I'm sorry, battalion of gray shirts and cargo shorts. I should have thanked you, and I should have welcomed you to my neighborhood, because I AM proud of it.

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