a moment of rage.

I had a moment of complete disbelief today. I got on the bus, as normal, and a man and his wife were eating a simple lunch. I started on my usual task of staring out the window, and at one stop noticed something white flash by my eyes, out the open door. I assumed the man had tossed out an apple core (this is normal, my dad’s car walls are spotted with spots where he missed the window with his core and hit the wall instead). However, several spots later, I see a crumpled potato chip bag land on the pavement outside the door. My jaw dropped. I mean…I was always aware that yes, people litter. But I think I always thought it was unintentional, like when your gum wrappers flip out of your purse in a stiff breeze, or a newspaper blows out of your hand. But here was a blatent, cognizant littering. He had put the trash directly on the ground, making NO attempt of getting it into a trash can whatsoever. WHAT!!!!!! Suddenly, all the litter on the ground outside the bus took on new meaning. Was that paper cup tossed down deliberately, or had it blown out of the trash can down the street? Was that newspaper from the stand at the bus stop or had someone just thrown it down, thinking it unimportant? I always thought that in our so-called enlightened age, there were just some things people didn’t do…but apparently the things I think are unthinkable, beyond belief, are routine for some people. I will never forget looking over at that man, now in conversation with his wife, and looking back at the potato chip bag, now rolling away in the wind from beneath the bus. Where is that potato chip bag now?