6:45 am, July 4th – Independence Day in America.
Harvard Square was dead quiet, but not dead.
A few men – all white and thin – were sitting, lying on the street, or walking slowly in front of the Harvard Coop. These were familiar sights at Harvard Square at this time of day – homeless men and lonely guys minding their own business.
Where was I? What was I doing there?
Actually, I was sipping a cup of coffee at a window table on the 2nd floor of Starbucks with a top view of the Square. I was early for a 8 am breakfast at another Cafe, and thought I would kick back and watch this neighborhood wake up on this great American holiday.
Suddenly, I was jolted by a rare and moving scene.
An old man with thinning grey hair dressed in a clean white T-shirt and khaki shorts matched with color-coded vest entered the picture.
Slowly and methodically, he started picking up trash that was overflowing from a huge garbage can. At first, I thought he was looking for recyclable trash to sell for money. A common practice. But wait, he was wearing a sporty watch that looks like it could be a SWATCH. He was not picking up anything but sorting, separating “trash” like empty soda can, soda cups, and brown bags and tissues – all visible from where I was sitting. He then dropped each piece of trash – one by one – into the “Trash” only and “Recyclable” bins nearby. With his bare hands.
Why? Why does this matter to him? Who is he?
Is he a Cambridge resident? Does he live nearby? Alone?
I watched with amazement and awe the entire five minutes he was sorting trash from recyclable. Then he crossed the street over to my side of the street where another huge trash stood with overflowing liquid from cups and messy bags and napkins at the top. Once again, with his bare hands, he sorted them and dropped them one by one into the Trash and Recyclable BINS near by.
Then, he walked away.
His incredible acts of charity touched me deeply – especially on this Independence Day. It led me to think about the spirit of America – which is the license plate motto for Massachusetts. It led me to think about the character of some Americans – white in this case, man in this case – willing to pick up other people’s trash!
Unconvinced that this is an isolated incident, I actually went online and search “Pick up other people’s trash” and found two men – both white – who do that.
One is former Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis. The other – a writer name Nick Douglas.
Why? Here’s what Dukakis was quoted as saying in this Christian Science Monitor article.
Littering is a crime of stealth, and Dukakis himself says he’s rarely caught anyone in the act. However, picking up trash can have a ripple effect, he says.
“I’m a big fan of the ‘broken windows’ policing theory: It’s not just enough to chase lawbreakers, but you want to create a sense of social order in communities. Because when you start letting [broken windows, litter, or graffiti] happen, a lot of other things happen,” he says. “If the place is clean, people are less inclined to mess it up; if it looks like a dump, what the hell.”
That is so true. One civic act at a time, we can create a clean space.
How about Nick Douglas? Here’s his take on the art of pick up trash.
Don’t pick up for other people in your home; that way lies madness. But do it everywhere else.
You’ll have a cleaner environment. You’ll be more careful with your own trash. You, a being of pure virtue, will forgive people all their minor sins. Or you won’t, and you’ll hold that smug sense of superiority over all of them, the incontinent garbage creeps. That feels pretty good, too.
As for me, I haven’t picked up trash in public. But what I do can’t be seen in public. I actually pick up trashed tissues and toilet papers inside the ladies room whenever I see them as I enter.
But no, I don’t do that with my bare hands, always with a paper towel. Perhaps the spirit is the same. One civic act at a time, we can create a clean space.
What about you?