Train Garbage

As I was leaving the train, the gentleman next to me had left his newspaper on the seat.  Being a kind and helpful person, I said "excuse me you left your newspaper" to which he replied "oh I'm done with it."  If we did not live in a crazy world where people kill other people for no good reason I would have then said what I was thinking "oh, then you left your garbage."

"Why is everyone leaving without us?"

And he's not the only one who doesn't think the cleaning up of one's own garbage is a passenger's responsibility. I had the misfortune of getting on a train the other day that had just pulled in and let out passengers (some come in empty).  There was crap everywhere.   A guy next to me when I sat down said with a straight face "you'd think the LIRR could do a better job with what we pay - and they just keep increasing it." Now I have no overwhelming love for the LIRR (I've written about them before) but the train just pulled in - this wasn't them (and you know what - even if they have hours to clean a train, they should be doing maintenance and general cleaning not picking up shit people leave behind).  So my snarky self couldn't help myself - I responded "well it would also help if people weren't such slobs and picked up after themselves."  He looked a bit taken aback that I had questioned his firmly held world view and returned to his phone, ostensibly to text a sympathetic friend as opposed to some strange bitch, that LIRR workers suck at cleaning, minus the context that LIRR passengers do too.  Clearly he did not agree with me that adults should have to take their garbage off the train themselves.  

I can’t comprehend what is going through your mind when you spend an hour on a passenger train, drinking a coffee, eating a doughnut and reading a paper and then when the train pulls into the station you get up and just leave your empty coffee cup (dregs inside which will likely spill onto the seat at some point), crumpled, crumb filled bag and crinkled newspaper.  If it is an afternoon train, substitute an empty Budweiser can for the coffee and the rest is the same.  Meanwhile, this is after the conductor has announced at least once, and usually more, to please help keep our trains clean and use the trash bins on the station platforms.  There are trash bins everywhere – and they do have garbage in them so clearly they are used by people who understand you clean up after yourself.   Yet still there remain the few, the privileged, who think someone else should clean up after them.  Hey, I understand.  The mini-mes, aged 10 and 6, think me and Big Guy should clean up after them.  But we are teaching them otherwise so that they don't grow up into the kind of crummy adults who leave their garbage behind in public places, assuming someone else will take care of it.

And let me add for the record, that this may be a train related rant but it happens in lots of other places.  Food courts in malls – people leave their trays filled with garbage on the table.  Movie theaters – people leave their empty cups and popcorn buckets.  Or even better, half filled so the other people in the row kick them over, leaving a particularly lovely mess for the well-paid theater workers to clean up before the next showing.  Anyone who has stepped in a sticky mess on the theater floor knows how well that turns out. Sporting events – empty beer cups and cardboard food holders scattered all about.  Just like the LIRR, in each of these places there are *huge* trash cans available for garbage.  Yet people persist in acting like they’re in a restaurant and the busboy will be along any moment to clear the table.

Have a little courtesy for your fellow humans.  Clean up after yourself.  And if you can’t or won’t, whatever your reason, then be generous enough to leave a nice tip along with your trash for the staff that have to clean up after you, the responsible adult.

As I was leaving the train, the gentleman next to me had left his newspaper on the seat.  Being a kind and helpful person, I said "excuse me you left your newspaper" to which he replied "oh I'm done with it."  If we did not live in a crazy world where people kill other people for no good reason I would have then said what I was thinking "oh, then you left your garbage."  

"Why is everyone leaving without us?"