Did your parents teach you better than that?

When I go bank fishing I am shocked, saddened and appalled at the amount of litter I see spread over the landscape. It is my personal opinion that bush lite is the preferred brand of beer for people who wantonly throw their rubbish on the ground with no thought or concerns for others. Even when I pull into a Wal-Mart parking lot I can see where a thoughtless person literally took their assortment of clutter in their car and dumped it into the parking lot for someone else to clean up. Obviously topping of your car fluids in the parking lot and throwing the oil bottle, antifreeze jug or windshield wiper fluid bottle on the ground is acceptable behavior for some. I have been driving down the interstate and have witnessed car windows being rolled down so the occupant inside could throw out their fast food bag. I always have one question for these people: Did your parents teach you better than that?

There Was No Lecture

As I search my memory bank I can’t remember my dad ever telling me that it was wrong to litter. I simply remember that he didn’t litter. When we fished we didn’t find it to laborious to heft our empty chicken liver container to the green trash can that is provided at most lakes. We didn’t throw Styrofoam worm containers on the ground because we picked our night crawlers off the street and we kept them in my dad’s precious metal Yuban coffee cans and we needed it for the next time we went fishing. I never got a lecture on not littering. Instead my dad showed me that a man was supposed to toss his pint of Jack Daniels or cans of Miller Genuine Draft into the trash can. You see most of the times your consistent actions are more powerful than your words.

Now There Is A Lecture

I now have kids of my own, and I take it a step farther than my dad did. I tell them “Our family does not litter” but they also see me picking up litter when we go walking outside. I verbally express my disappointment I will have in them if I ever see them disrespecting what God gave us by throwing their garbage on the ground. I don’t know if good dads are the answer to prevent littering, but I guarantee you this: If all men took the responsibility to be good fathers to the kids they sire we would solve a lot of the ills that face our beautiful nation.