Things have changed

I was walking down my dirt road the other day when I saw a fellow taking a walk past the mailboxes. He was an older white male, late seventies perhaps. Looked a little bit toxic, if one can ascribe such a thing from a casual glance. Bit angry.

I had never seen him before. As I espied him out of the corner of my eye, I watched him casually throw a paper cup he had been drinking from over the chain link fence and into the preserve like it was nothing.

I was enraged and shocked and for a second I had a mind to go back and get in his face, ask him "What the frick?" But I didn't. I didn't do anything at all but keep moving. For several reasons. Everybody is on edge and a lot of people are carrying weapons these days. You can get shot for the simple reason of asking someone to put a mask on.

If a guy was cavalier enough to litter a nature preserve, he probably could care less what I thought number two and there was little chance of educating or shaming him. Just a clueless old bastard who thinks the world is his trash box. Like the people who back up to the river and dump their trash loads every so often. Someone else will pick up after this dyspeptic ulcer of a man. Three, I was heading towards my house, in a recognizable car, in a lonely valley, and I didn't need to have my home or family become a target down the road.

So I grit my teeth and let it go. It definitely bothered me. Tough to do but you can't always fix the world. Now even a few months ago I would have been all over the guy. But things have changed.