I passed a small apartment building in Brooklyn that had a modest collection of dead leaves and a few pieces of litter out front:
I barely even noticed this pile, having been a Craphurst resident for several years now. But someone taped this note to the front door:
Wowzers! Upon reading the note I felt a sense of shame that I myself have grown so unfazed to a comparatively* small pile of crap that I didn't even register this as a dirty sidewalk condition (*compared to my neighborhood, where practically every domicile has a pile like this out front, but in addition to leaves and tissues our building fronts are decorated with old broken furniture and appliances, drug bags, Georgi bottles, bloody rags, pee bags/bottles, et cetera et cetera).
The building in this photo was in Brooklyn, adjacent to the BQE, with a gas station on one corner, and blocks away from any stores or restaurants. The buildings on this block were nothing fancy, but they were NEAT. The sidewalks were immaculate (barring that in front of this building). People who live on this block make an effort- they keep their sidewalks clean, put out flower planters, decorations; even though it's not in a great location, through their efforts it looks like a nice, cozy block on which to live. Goes to show that even if you don't live in a pretty area, you can still make it a nice place by being a decent freaking person and at least keeping it clean!
Well, fear not, I returned to Craphurst shortly thereafter, and was greeted by the usual sight:
Pee bottle and empty booze bottles, in front of restaurants that were doing a booming business this Saturday night but didn't feel it necessary to take care of this mess out front. (Why bother, they had plenty of customers who didn't seem to care.) Yay Elmhurst!
