Bad citizen

Tonight, after getting off the train, I witnessed a man who appeared to be in his early 60's get out of his 4 door Mercedes and throw a bag of bottles into the bushes on Oakview.  I asked him if he was really going to get rid of his garbage that way and he didn't respond.  I told him I had his license plate and would call the Police.  I did but they wanted me to come in and fill out a civilian complaint.  I gave them the plate number - which they verified, but couldn't do anything about without me coming in.

So if you see the white haired Mercedes driving guy tell him to stop littering in town and throw away his bottles (booze?) elsewhere.

Should you really have posted the license plate? I know his behavior is awful but I dunno.

Kind of sad. I had a tenant who dumped his empties in a trash can in the park down the street, I guess because he didn't want me to see them in the recycling toter. I'll bet the parents who took their kids to that park wondered where all the Bud cans were coming from in the dead of winter.

kthnry said:

Kind of sad. I had a tenant who dumped his empties in a trash can in the park down the street, I guess because he didn't want me to see them in the recycling toter. I'll bet the parents who took their kids to that park wondered where all the Bud cans were coming from in the dead of winter.

Nice post.  It is a good reminder that, sometimes, there is a story behind the story.  That said, however, they guy should have used a trash can.

tjohn said:

kthnry said:

Kind of sad. I had a tenant who dumped his empties in a trash can in the park down the street, I guess because he didn't want me to see them in the recycling toter. I'll bet the parents who took their kids to that park wondered where all the Bud cans were coming from in the dead of winter.

Nice post.  It is a good reminder that, sometimes, there is a story behind the story.  That said, however, they guy should have used a trash can.

I completely agree. I wonder if he was on his way to his regular dumping spot when he got an emergency call to pick up a grandkid from school. I'm trying to summon outrage, but I'm just getting pity.

What color was the car?

bikefixed said:

Should you really have posted the license plate? I know his behavior is awful but I dunno.

Screw him. Bad behavior has its own reward.

So why not fill out the report?  After all, you took the time to post it here.

Thats exactly what I was thinking.

Behavior was bad but posting a license number is a bit beyond the call of duty or local well-being. This website is accessible to  virtually everyone near and far. Not necessary to provide that degree of wholesale notoriety and invasion of privacy for piggish behavior. A police report would have been more targeted and more to the point. (And this being MOL, would the OP have been as angry if it hadn't been a Mercedes driver? Or do you think a Prius driver would never do such a thing, or something else equally inconsiderate?)

Every single day people dump trash on my mother's berm. Half the time it is neatly wrapped in grocery bags, possibly dumped from a car. The other half it is loose trash just thrown on the berm or shoved into the hedge. Every. F*cking. Day.

If you happen to see one of these scumbags who litters on my mother's property every day and want to post their license plate, please feel free. I won't try to make you feel guilty when you weren't the one acting like someone else's property is your personal trash can.  

Edited to fix autocorrect. 

I'm trying to post pictures, but my phone is acting glitchy now. 

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That napkin was shoved deep inside the hedges, it was not blown there by the wind. A regular occurrence, though the actual type of trash varies.

I suppose we should be grateful that the trash shown in the last picture was at least bagged before being dumped on my mother's property. Fine upstanding citizens didn't want to make too much work for us to clean it up when they chose to litter someone's property. 

Not pictured: soda and juice cans, black and mild wrappers, and two empty airplane bottles. 

filling out the report is one thing...but the you could  have to waste a whole day to testify for 5 minutes in court..and unless they DNA test the garbage it is one word against the other...

spontaneous said:

That napkin was shoved deep inside the hedges, it was not blown there by the wind. A regular occurrence, though the actual type of trash varies.

I suppose we should be grateful that the trash shown in the last picture was at least bagged before being dumped on my mother's property. Fine upstanding citizens didn't want to make too much work for us to clean it up when they chose to litter someone's property. 

This would be more than enough to make me put on some surveillance and totally go off on the individual(s). That is ridiculous! 

Next time take his picture and post it all over the internet.

I was once given the great advice that you should never post anything on the internet that you would not be prepared to see on the front page of the New York Times.

Why should ones behavior in public towards the property of others be any different.

If you are selfish and boorish enough to dump your garbage in someone else's yard, and get caught, you should be prepared for the consequences.

I would not want to put something on the front page of The New York Times unless I was confident I had the full story.

grayhill2 said:

Behavior was bad but posting a license number is a bit beyond the call of duty or local well-being. This website is accessible to  virtually everyone near and far. Not necessary to provide that degree of wholesale notoriety and invasion of privacy for piggish behavior....

By definition, the reporting and broadcasting of behavior done openly and notoriously in public is not an invasion of privacy.

DaveSchmidt said:

I would not want to put something on the front page of The New York Times unless I was confident I had the full story.

Seems the papers today often skip fact checking... 

So, nobody read this comment?  The guy might just be an inconsiderate slob, but there might be something else going on.

kthnry said:

Kind of sad. I had a tenant who dumped his empties in a trash can in the park down the street, I guess because he didn't want me to see them in the recycling toter. I'll bet the parents who took their kids to that park wondered where all the Bud cans were coming from in the dead of winter.

At least kthnry's guy took the trouble to place his stuff in a trash can, not someone's bushes.  I have no trouble with the op posting the car's license number and I don't care what his problem might be. 

Guess my tolerance for dumping trash on someone's property is very low since I live on a corner and corner properties seem to be favorite targets for those miscreants.

tjohn said:

So, nobody read this comment?  The guy might just be an inconsiderate slob, but there might be something else going on.

kthnry said:

Kind of sad. I had a tenant who dumped his empties in a trash can in the park down the street, I guess because he didn't want me to see them in the recycling toter. I'll bet the parents who took their kids to that park wondered where all the Bud cans were coming from in the dead of winter.

tjohn said:

So, nobody read this comment?  The guy might just be an inconsiderate slob, but there might be something else going on.

kthnry said:

Kind of sad. I had a tenant who dumped his empties in a trash can in the park down the street, I guess because he didn't want me to see them in the recycling toter. I'll bet the parents who took their kids to that park wondered where all the Bud cans were coming from in the dead of winter.

I did, and thought it was worth echoing.

No, I didn't miss it. I felt sad for both of these men. This is a sign of alcoholism. People don't want them to see their empties, because of the sheer amount they drink. I'd be willing to bet that both of these men have/had more than one dumping spot. Just because the man drove a Mercedes doesn't mean he doesn't have issues. I read an article recently, although I can't find it readily, about a woman whose husband died. They were living separate lives; he spending most of his time in the basement. When he died, she found bags and bags of empty scotch (i think) bottles in the basement. 

Alcoholism is a serious addiction. We can turn our backs and pretend that any kind of addiction is a sign of weakness and doesn't affect our families, but I guarantee everyone has at least one person they know who is battling with it. 

http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/sgthing.html

Alcoholism would explain the nature of the garbage and the desire for an alternate disposal location, but it would not excuse the tossing of the garbage into the bushes. 

imonlysleeping said:

Alcoholism would explain the nature of the garbage and the desire for an alternate disposal location, but it would not excuse the tossing of the garbage into the bushes. 

I never said he wasn't a bad citizen.

Its sad.   But there are certainly recycling bins around town he could have dumped them in right?

I remember many years ago when my uncle was visiting my grandmother for a week.  We went to throw stuff in her recycling bin and found it was full of liquor bottles.  Recycling bins hide a lot of secrets -- maybe that's why so many people don't put their recycling out for the town pickup?

imonlysleeping said:

Alcoholism would explain the nature of the garbage and the desire for an alternate disposal location, but it would not excuse the tossing of the garbage into the bushes. 

He needed to be called out. If he is indeed an alcoholic, he shouldn't be driving so kudos to posting the plate. Sure he'll get zero sympathy if he hit a kid while driving drunk. He can hide his evidence in a trash can. Bushes aren't trash cans.