I know my fellow blogger Joe Albero at Salisbury News seems to have a large issue with graffiti, illegally parked cars, and trash on Salisbury’s downtown plaza. But as far as trash goes, that’s not the only place people just wantonly dump their trash.
This bag of garbage is just sitting along Old Ocean City Road. What’s ironic is that not 200 yards away is this:
Even more brazen is this photo:
In case you can’t read the sign in the photo, it reads “Do Not Throw Litter – $1000 Fine”. That’s a really expensive old TV set, and it’s one that’s been sitting there for at least three months since I’ve moved in over there. This is the underpass where Old Ocean City Road goes under Route 13. There’s much more than that old TV there, it just seems to be a garbage dump for anyone who wants to toss out the trash from their car driving by. I’d bet that if Mike Lewis ran a speed trap of sorts there some Saturday night, there would be several thousand dollars in revenue for the county.
It’s about pride of ownership. I attempt to do the best I can in taking care of my yard along the street, so if I see some litter there I’ll pick it up. But I’m not in the trash picking business. Maybe the state needs to bring a few ECI inmates up here to clean up the mess along this state highway. However, where people’s yards abut the highway they should get out and make an effort to pick this up as well.
And I see something of a parallel to Salisbury’s graffiti situation. What tends to happen is that if a wall has graffiti applied to it and it’s not cleaned up, the next guy’s going to think that the owner doesn’t care and it’s fair game. Someone’s junked their old TV under the bridge so the next guy will throw his bag full of garbage out.
So it’s not just the Salisbury downtown plaza that’s in need of attention. If someone wants an old non-functional television, I can tell you where to pick one up. If someone wants a cleaner and more vigilant city, it’s going to be up to all of us.
I think you hit something with the ‘pride of ownership’ comment. You own your yard and so you don’t want it to be an eyesore. It would reflect badly on you.
This is not true for collective ownership. Road litter is an example. You pay for them but you don’t really own them. You expect someone to keep them up but they don’t really do it. So who is to blame? The direct owner is tough to pin down. Is it the state or is it the people of the state? Should you, as part owner, be responisble for its upkeep or should your taxes cover that?
Certainly people should not litter in public places but collective ownership leaves it open to abuse.