Ever been driving down the highway and see an article of clothing laying on the pavement and it gets you wondering what the story is surrounding that? Were a couple making mad passionate love, tearing off each others clothing and tossing it out the window as they were driving down the road? On the other hand, was someone in a fight with someone else and tossing clothing out to be spiteful. A hundred times I’ve seen just ONE shoe lying there. Always one. I remember wondering about that. What the hell is going on with the one shoe? What’s the story behind THAT? Someone decided that they were sick of seeing an odd shoe lying around inside their car and tossed it? I used to wonder if I would ever see a PAIR of shoes and one day I actually did. Let me tell you, it gave me a creepy feeling to see a PAIR of shoes carelessly strewn in the middle of the highway with no person in them. I hoped right then that I’d never see that again. I’ll settle for just the one shoe. Yep, I’ve seen hats, shoes, towels, t-shirts, sweatshirts and sweatpants, tossed aside like road kill, waiting patiently for someone to scoop them up into a garbage bag for disposal.
Which reminds me about the highways and the people who clean them up. Ever take notice of those signs….this stretch of highway has been adopted by so and so…or something like that. You are supposed to come and clean that stretch of road if you’ve adopted it. Ever seen a stretch of road that has unfit adoptive parents? Litter everywhere. I’m ashamed to say that when you come into the state I live in, on one of the main highways, it looks pretty awful. That particular entrance is near a large city and the city follows suite. I often wonder what people must think….they probably think the same thing I do.
I have visited Canada many times and have found it to be super clean. No litter, no graffiti, no junk. I rode the subway and was so impressed…not even a gum wrapper littered the platforms or inside the cars. Why can’t our big cities look like that? I never litter and when I see someone else do it, it makes me furious. If I have something that needs to be thrown away and can’t find a trash receptacle, I will put it in my pocket until I do find one or else just take it home. So…all of this rambling started just by seeing a shoe on the highway, but I still wonder about that since I see it so often. I’ve also seen a pair of shoes, tied together by the laces and thrown over wires at intersections. I’ve been told that it’s secret squirrel code for drugs. But I’m not sure about that.
I miss the old Burma-shave signs. I think that a lot of advertisers have given up using signs and billboards so much. I imagine they figure that drivers are all too busy looking at their GPS, car stereo, cell phone or DVD player to notice and, furthermore, actually READ and comprehend a sign along the road.
