Pride in your local environment

Mike,
I tend to agree the yanks can show us a thing or two on national pride and self respect for the local community.
It makes me ashamed to be british sometimes the state of our filthy cities and the thought of what foreign visitors must think of us. Its bloody scandalous.
Scotty

It's better in France too. I went for a run one morning and noticed with surprise and dismay some significant graffiti on the wall of the local council sports hall.
It had been painted over by the time I ran back. I'm a slow runner for sure, and this was a long one, but even so not sure this would've happened in the UK.

And the whole 'Village Fleurie' programme does wonders to lift the spirits at this time of year (I'm guessing maybe this is when it's judged as everything looks even more manicured and lovely than normal).

Still everywhere has its good and bad parts I guess.

Not all the US radiates such pride, but I'll agree with you on those roadside rest areas. They really are pristine.

When in the UK, I was surprised at the littering that is tolerated. The College Green in Bristol became a garbage tip each Saturday and Sunday in the summer as people would turn up for a picnic and then just throw their garbage on the ground behind them. Long-suffering council employees would dutifully clean it up overnight, only to have it polluted again the next day. It wouldn't happen so much in Canada nor in Australia (some "special events" excepted) in my observation.

I'm afraid the Maltese are just as bad as us. I know, because I'm married to one, and we visit most years.

Things could improve if the UK Government issued an arrest warrant for the following

Bus drivers who don’t wait for people to sit down before pulling away from the bus stop;

Taxi drivers who use their horns instead of knocking on the door;

People who moan at the council about the streets being full of litter, not stopping to think that it is people who drop litter, not the council;

A room full of drama teachers listening to Bjork;

Grown men with replica shirts worn over their jumpers, who stand up and stretch out their arms when the opposing team fail to hit the target;

An assortment of scriptwriters, novelists and playwrights who own Agas but don’t know how to use them;

A musical equipment reviewer responsible for an article titled “Microphone of the Month”;

A woman who described herself as “A little bit Bridget, a little bit Ally, a little bit Sex And The City” and chose to call her baby boy Fred as a childishly rebellious attempt at a clever reaction to those who might have expected her to call him Julian or Rupert. Bit of advice: call him Rupert, it fits, and besides it’s a good name. Don’t be calling him Fred or Archie, with all its cheeky but lovable working class scamp connotations, unless you really do have plans for him to spend his life in William Hill’s waiting for them to weigh in at Newton Abbot.

A whole wall full of teenagers spitting needlessly;

An amateur thug in camouflage trousers whose Japanese fighting dog had run amok on a Swindon council estate;

A man from the record company who said that George Michael continues to challenge social taboos through his music;

Continuity announcers introducing comedy shows;

A pub band who get uppity when everyone goes to the bar during a song they’ve written themselves;

A group of football fans referred to as Commodores, as in once, twice, three times a season;

An artist who said his next album would be more “song-based”;

A man who informs people that he gets up at six am every morning and seemed to want a medal;

People who say they speak as they find and are somehow proud of it;

Journalists who try to spell an interviewee’s laugh;

An organisation who declared an awareness week for awareness weeks;

And a council worker who dropped litter.

What do i get for getting up at 5am ?

Tired?

As it happens when you get up every day very early you dont get tired....you just go to bed earlier.

ROTF, a good list but I would go further.

We need to bring back stocks and rotten fruit throwing or hanging for...

Ambulance chasers

Litter louts including but not limited to smokers who can't use bins, people disposing of gum on the pavement and the annoying "Well, the council employ cleaners to pick up my litter so why shouldn't I just throw it on the ground even though there is an empty bin 1 small step to my left" - friend once chucked rubbish out of the window of my car whilst I was driving, I stopped, reversed up and told him to pick it up and put it in a bin. He thought I was joking but I wasn't. He picked it up.

Fly tippers - major problem round where I live. How much effort is it to drive 5 minutes to the local tip rather than go out at 3am and dump it all in the middle of a country lane?

The "I stubbed my toe on the side of a pavement because I wasn't watching where I was going and managed to get £10,000 for it" brigade. They should certainly be put in stocks for not being able to look where they're going.

quote:

Originally posted by scottyhammer:
Mike,
I tend to agree the yanks can show us a thing or two on national pride and self respect for the local community.
It makes me ashamed to be british sometimes the state of our filthy cities and the thought of what foreign visitors must think of us. Its bloody scandalous.
Scotty

I completely agree. The amount of scumbags I see dropping litter winds me up to the point of putting one on the offender. It is about time we got tough on the likes.

I'd shoot dog owners for failing to scoop up their dog's shite, just for starters.

I always remember a woman in her 40's allowing her dog to make a significant deposit on my dad's front lawn.

He gave her the opportunity to pick it up, but she simply ignored him and walked away. Some 50 yards later did she then realise however that she should have scooped it up; My dad managed to sling the deposit with his spade, landing on the back of her head. Priceless.

quote:

Originally posted by Right Wing:I'd shoot dog owners for failing to scoop up their dog's shite, just for starters.

Crikey, i'd hate to think what the main course would be, even the sweet for that matter...

quote:

Originally posted by Stephen Tate:

quote:

Originally posted by Right Wing:I'd shoot dog owners for failing to scoop up their dog's shite, just for starters.

Crikey, i'd hate to think what the main course would be, even the sweet for that matter...

Irrespective of your palette Stephen, a step forward for this country.

quote:

Originally posted by Right Wing:a step forward for this country.

I wholeheartedly agree. According to a local survey we have some of the cleanest beaches in Europe,but what it should say is we have some of the best litter disposal teams in Europe.

On Southsea common most days in the summer by the end of the day, the whole place is riddled with litter but give the Local authorities their due everything seems spotless come sunrise...but it is eyesore when you are walking the dog in the early hours and see what is left behind from the day before...

cheers, steve

It was good to read something about the states, thank you for noticing. It all started with Lady Bird Johnson to "BEautify America".

Once we got the no smoking laws enacted smokers became very diligent in stubbing out and properly disposing of butts.

I think it's a great thing for retirees to get a part time maintenance job and it sounds like he's quite involved. I think it's a shame people have a yard and don't take care of it themselves. That was always my job with dad growing up. Now people seem to expect to hire a gardener.

NO its all down to lack of self respect in the UK anyway - IMHO

Was over my local park this morning with Twix and a guy just watched and ignored his dog having a crap right in front of him......he had his mobile welded to his ear as usual so i couldnt resist and i asked him politely to please think of other park users and pick it up but was greeted with the expected F.O. response which did not really surprise me. I felt like knocking some sense into him but instead picked it up myself and put it my supply of disposable bags that i always carry while out with Twix.
I then decided to teach this ignorant prat a lesson so i followed behind him on his way home and watched which house he went into i then posted his mess back to him by special hand delivery.
I just hope that this selfish man thinks about it and learns to act responsibly when out with his dog in future as the likes of him give all decent dog owners a bad reputation.
Unfortunately this is common behaviour in our country which is a real shame.

I am constantly amazed by people who drop litter within 2 steps of a bin.

I am further amazed that the same people when informed they have just dropped litter within 2 steps of a bin say 'you pick it up if you don't like it' or worse.

I saw a lout drop a half eaten 'fish and chips' and tomato ketchup on the pavement 2 steps from a bin. He told me to effing pick it up myself so I did. I then rubbed his face in it. He had the nerve to call the police but I was probably long gone before they turned up. Very satisfying really.

Rock on SNIPER - I had a similar one a few years ago

My house is in a quiet close road & has a smallish verge of "public" grass next to my property that we tend for the benefit of the neighbourhood, keeping things tidy etc. (local authority - who they ??)
After a number of trouble free years we started to accumulate a few dog turds on the grass verge, maybe 2 or 3 per week, culprit unknown. No neighbours had dogs that (a) able to drop such a size or (b) allowed them to roam to do so.
One night at aprx 2am I saw a guy with a large lurcher type dog (actually on a friggin' lead) crap on the grass & no attempt to pick it up.
Next night the same. I found out who he was & were he lived - it was quite walk for him & the dog, best part of half a mile.
When a new pile appeared I scooped it up put it in a plastic bag, sealed it in a jiffy bag & took it around to his house.
"so sorry but your dog lost something last night in our road"

RESULT

The local council administer a fine of £500 to dog owners who do not clean up - problem is that it is not advantageous to report the "crime" due to the possibility of recrimination, difficulty of reporting the issue etc

To counter this it may be very useful to give a bounty to the person who reports the crime of perhaps 50% of the fine.