This was without question the biggest haul of litter ever collected by two people in one hour. Sympathetic to my solo status what with Julie off in Africa, Ted came out to support me, and what a contribution. He cleared out a cache of waterlogged cartons piled in the fringe of weeds next to the parking lot, right near the entrance of the store. There was a styrofoam cooler, foil catering pans, and several toxic looking containers. We had to drag everything the long way around the front of the store to get to the dumpster. I followed behind Ted with a full grocery cart piled precariously with rotting boxes that kept tipping over and dropping debris that I had to pick up again. Apparently the guy at the liquor store spotted Ted carrying his armload of trash around the back of the store in broad daylight. I know this guy, he is the manager of the liquor store, and we have arranged for bartenders through him several times. He always seemed nice enough. But instead of questioning Ted directly, he called the manager of the store, who met us in the back and angrily accused us of bringing our own trash to their dumpster. It felt surreal, and made me question my intentions. Am I wrong to go around cleaning up litter? The manager clearly was not at all happy about the unsolicited help. He indignantly challenged my observation that there seems to be an enormous amount of litter around his store that never stops appearing. I know that he sends his cart guys out to clean up, but the mess is bigger than that. This was my SIXTH clean-up around Shop Rite, and, sadly, it will have to be my last. I don't want or need thanks or appreciation... but I don't want to be arrested either!
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