Friday, January 18, 2008

One of the Joys of Being 30

I was walking down the steps of my building and happened to see two guys on a couch and one of them (I didn't see which) threw garbage on the floor. They laughed, and one looked up who saw me walking down the steps. I mailed my letter (which was in a different direction), then went back and picked up their litter and asked if one of them dropped that. They pointed at each other. I tossed the litter in between them and let them deal with it.

My friend saw this go down, and she said, "Good for you."

I don't think I'm overstating what I did when I say that I'm a hero.

I learned that trick from my dad: don't accuse, just ask if they had dropped it. (Dad gave someone their garbage and innocently said, "Excuse me, sir, you dropped this," like he was being helpful.) I thought I would have to wait until I grew to be six-feet tall with a mustache before I could confront a litter bug. It's also convenient that I'm at school in a position with some authority. I don't know if I could do that on the street yet.

Yup, I'm a hero.

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