I was taking the subway around 10pm. I was sitting down, resting, listening to some Ayu. Across from me was a young couple, probably around the same age as me. They were dressed like trendy punk rockers. The girl was wearing some black converse with a gray/black toned outfit. The boy had on a baggy shirt with a backwards hat. They seemed very relaxed, the girl with her feet up on the chair in front of her and the boy had his arm around his girl. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I knew they were having a grand old lovey-dovey time.
Eventually the girl reached into her bag, and pulled out a packet of gum. I was mildly surprised to see that it was the exact same brand of gum that I had in my bag at the time - Orbit Spearmint Spritzer. The girl grabbed a piece, and dropped the wrapper on the floor. She then dropped the empty gum packet on the floor.
This caught my attention.
Naturally I started to over-analyze the situation. I start thinking, "Why would somebody purposely drop a piece of trash on the ground, and not pick it up?" I couldn't grasp this concept. If it were me, I would immediately pick up the garbage, and store it somewhere until I could toss it in a trash bin. I personally prefer a clean environment. A clean city to me is a comfortable city. If I litter, then not only am I being hypocritical, but I'm contributing to the filth which founders New York.
Does this girl not want a clean city? Does she enjoy looking at garbage on the train, having old newspaper scraps and used McDonald's cups attack her feet? I certainly don't, and that's why I make sure I put my garbage in the garbage can.
No matter how much I tried to understand why she littered, I just couldn't. If you make a conscious decision to throw a piece of garbage on the ground, then you make a conscious decision to make the city that much more dirty, that much more smelly, and that much more unsanitary. I'm sure this girl doesn't necessarily want a dirty, smelly, unsanitary city. But if doesn't then she certainly made a contradictory decision just now.
So I kept watching, wondering when she would pick up her trash, if she would pick up her trash. I waited, waited and waited some more. Eventually her and her boy got up, and off boarded at Woodhaven Blvd.
The gum pack was still on the floor.
I didn't know what to do. I felt like this girl had put me in an unfair position. I'm the person who wants a cleaner New York, but thanks to her, I had just witnessed a litter offense in person. It's not my responsibility to clean up after anybody... but it's also not fair for me to wish for change, and not actively make change.
I would love it if New York were clean - end of sentence.
If I want a cleaner city, than maybe not contributing to the filth isn't enough. Maybe I need to pitch in just a tiny amount, to clean things up. Maybe seeing someone litter, and not doing anything about it, is just as bad as littering in the first place.
I picked up her empty gum box, and threw it in the garbage when I got to my station. I don't expect to go along, picking up all the trash I see on the streets from now on. Hell if I did that it would take me hours just to walk from home to my station. But maybe just a little help here and there will make New York just that much cleaner, that much more sanitary, and that much more comfortable to live in.
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