Monday, September 27, 2004

He was a litter boi

As part of Grady's birthday weekend, I took him to Blockbuster to pick out a movie (he got Toy Story 2 and pronounced at the end, "this movie is great"). We parked and when getting out of the car, a guy with a skateboard tucked under his arm put his large Pepsi cup on the curb and walked past us to the neighboring gas station.

I was curious whether he placed it there to retrieve it later, so I went and nudged it with my foot. It was empty. So, Grady and I waited by the car for him to exit the gas station/convenience store. He didn't walk back our way to pick up the cup, so I knew he had indeed littered.

He was talking with two friends, and I brought Grady over and approached the guy. He was probably 16 or 17. Me:

"Hi. My son and I saw you place your cup on the curb and he asked why you had littered. I told him I didn't know, so that's why we're talking to you. Why did you leave your cup on the curb when you literally walked two feet from a trash can on your way into the gas station?"
Sk8er Boi:
"Oh, I'll go get it."
Me:
"OK, but I'm still curious, why would you do that and who did you expect to pick it up?"
Sk8er Boi just shrugged and gave me a vacant look.

Me:
"I'm just teaching my son a lesson about what's right and what's wrong."

I gave him a return vacant stare to say you're wrong, dude.

We went into Blockbuster and when we came out the cup was still there, yet the group of kids were gone. Hmmph. I saw a car drive by and the littering, Sk8er Boi was in the back seat. I yelled, "Hey, hey, come back here!" The driver threw it into reverse and drove back quickly. I prepared to get into a confrontation.

The driver, though, seemed to be the kid's older brother. I told Sk8er Boi:
"You told me you'd pick up this cup. Please do it."
The driver said to Sk8er Boi, "You didn't do it already?! Go pick that up." Sk8er Boi opened the door and sulked over and picked up his cup. The driver, as he pulled away said, "Thanks, and I'm sorry."

So, I know I taught Grady a lesson, and, though I doubt it, I hope I taught Sk8er Boi a lesson.

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