Why do people litter? Is it an inborn need to make their mark in life? Is it a totally overwhelming need to do so because they can, is it because of ignorance or because they weren’t taught otherwise? I don’t think it’s one of the above, because no matter what circumstances you grew up in, within each of us there is a set of rules that has to do with pride. These rules enable us to distinguish between right and wrong, and what’s more, it’s often directly linked to your retina – so you can see what’s on and what’s not.
It saddens me to say that in Barberton we have a couple of residents without pride, but let’s give examples, ones I’ve seen with my own eyes.
Rimer’s Creek: People will sit there over the weekend, eating their takeaways and drinking beer, enjoying the great outdoors… just to get up and leave their empty bottles and packaging behind. How difficult is it to pick up after yourself and throw the mess you made into a dustbin?
Kleutervriend Kleuterskool: Some of the FET college students will have lunch under the trees adjacent to this nursery school.
They will get up and leave their rubbish right there. What is wrong with you?
Have you no pride whatsoever? Does it make you feel good to look back over your shoulder and see the pigsty you have left behind? What makes it even worse is the fact that a Kleutervriend dad went to the trouble to erect dustbins at the exact spot where the littering is occurring.
It’s a matter of getting off your behind, which you have to do in order to attend class after break, picking up your rubbish, lifting your hand and throwing it into the bin provided.
FET students: Not only are you dragging your college’s name through the mud, you are doing it to your fellow students and yourselves. You are the so-called future of our country – you are at college to obtain a qualification so you can put shoulder to the wheel and make a difference in life. You demand others to respect you. Do you even know the first thing about it? Respect is earned.
If you can’t even manage the simple task of cleaning up after yourself, and everyone driving past have to witness your mess, how do you think your demand for respect will actually bear fruit? At this point in time, I for one have absolutely no respect for you whatsoever.
Come on! Be proud of your college, be proud of who you are because then and only then will the respect from others come naturally.
