It all starts with a sweet wrapper..

Question:

It's a typical day at college. You're sitting in class, waiting for the lecturer to arrive. It's almost 2pm and a sense of boredom and lethergy start to kick in. With the hopes of staying awake, you pull out a sweet from your bag, unwrap the wrapper and pop it into your mouth. Next, you

A. Throw the wrapper on the floor immediately after popping the sweet into your mouth.
B. Walk to the waste paper basket, either behind or in front of the classroom, to throw the sweet wrapper away.
C. Put the wrapper in your bag or pocket and throw it away on your way out
D. Consume the wrapper along with the sweet. Why add to the increasing amount of rubbish?

It would only be normal and civic conscious of us to choose option B or C. HOWEVER, as life loves to lay out new discoveries for me, I found out that there are dimwits in this world who would choose option A over option B and C. Sad to say, these dimwits are some of the people I call (or have no choice but to call) my friends.

I was absolutely appauled to see the person sitting next to me just toss the sweet wrapper on the floor after popping the sweet into it's new environment. Seeing as how I was already very irritable, I decided to pass a comment, or in other words, pick a fight.

i-heart-nature : I don't understand people like you. Why do you do things like that?
Destroy!i-live-for-me-alone : Easier mah
i-heart-nature : But imagine if everyone in this room thought the same way. Imagine how dirty the room would be by the end of the day.
Destroy!i-live-for-me-alone : Don't care lah. Convenience mah. *looks at me with an irritated expression*.
i-heart-nature : Don't you pity the next person who has to sit there. It's not very pleasant to be surrounded by rubbish in a classroom.
Destroy!i-live-for-me-alone : Push the chair lor
i-heart-nature : *turns head away and rolls eyes like there's no tomorrow*

I just stopped after that because the lecturer arrived and I didn't want to make a scene. I could've said a lot more. How can people be so so selfish and irresponsible and uncivic-conscious. I mean common, that's littering! And in a place that you spend almost as much time in as you do at home. I'm sure people don't go around throwing sweet wrappers all around their house just for the sake of convenience!

Ok fine, if you think you're too lazy to walk a few steps to the bin, then just put it in your handbag, pocket or pencil case. Then you can throw it away later. That's what I usually do.Sigh, it's not difficult at all and it will eventually become a habit. Sadly, most people think it so hard and they'll be able to come up with a million stupid excuses.

The most disturbing part of this whole discovery was the part where I couldn't help but generalize. If that person/other people can litter in a clean room with waste paper baskets everywhere, what more in other public places. Buses, cinemas, parks, roadsides, out the car window and so on!! This is not the first time I've experienced this behavior. I've faced it countless times with various different people. However, this is the first time I've seen it being done so deliberately and casually in a classroom! It's shocking to say the least. Also, usually after my repeated comments which sometimes can be perceived as nagging, the person eventually 'sees the light' and stops. A living example of my success in this area is Sam. However, I have a feeling that she only doesn't litter when she's with me. Hmmm.

Another disturbing part was being reminded of what that sweet wrapper represents. It's not just another sweet wrapper. It's represents the various different forms of litter or rubbish that could potentially be spread without civic consciousness. Replace that sweet wrapper with the soiled tissue of a person with the flu virus. Changes things drastically doesn't it? Now you would probably be cursing the dimwit who littered. Or what if that sweet wrapper and classroom was replaced with a baby's soiled diaper being thrown out of the car window (I've witnessed this with my very own eyes). Doesn't this make you just want to throw the diaper back in the dimwit's face.

The point I'm getting at is that, litter, no matter how big, how smelly or how soiled, will always be litter. A sweet wrapper is no different from a soiled tissue. Once we start bad habits like these in places like college, the cinema and so on, we tend to repeat these habits wherever we are. Very often, we complain about Malaysia being dirty and filled with litter. Drains get clogged up, rivers polluted and surroundings begin to adopt a certain stench. I know I'm looking at the really big picture, but all these could happen as a result of the stupid action of tossing the sweet wrapper on the classroom floor. We find it difficult to realise that these are results of our own actions (Well, not all of us. The actions of the dimwits!). Hence, let us not be self-centered and live in the present. Do not use convenience as a reason to litter. Life was never mean't to be easy or convenient!

So, a message to all the dimwits out there. Stop littering! Have pity on the poor souls who have to clean up after you. Someone's got to clean up your mess, and those who do are humans too. Don't make their job even harder than it already is.

Signing out!