When two people have the same idea, it’s a coincidence. When three do, it’s a movement.
Today’s movement is dog doo.
“06880” reader Dana Kuyper wrote recently that at Winslow Park, the town provides plastic bags and garbage cans for the removal of droppings. “For some reason,” she said, “people use the bags for their intended purpose and then leave them around the park. It’s worse in warm weather, and after the beach closes to dogs.
“The bags are usually on the ground, but sometimes in trees, sometimes on benches or tables. On any day you can walk through the dog park and see them. I don’t get it.”
I do: Some people are lazy. Selfish. Rude.
Fellow “06880” fan Judith Crowley had a similar thought. Walking at Compo, she noticed how many people did not clean up after their dogs (or themselves). She saw cups, straws, poo, and items even grosser than that. I saw the same, um, stuff.
“Compo is not a garbage can,” she noted. “But keep it up, and it will become one. That’s a shame, because I love taking my little Clover to the beach.”
I assume little Clover is her dog, not her daughter. Yet whether we’re talking about pets or kids, Winslow or Compo, winter or summer, the idea is the same: Do the right thing. Don’t be a pig. Don’t give us any crap.
I was strolling through the dog park behind the playhouse, I’m not sure what it’s called, with a friend of mine. We noticed a heck of a lot of New York Times bags scattered throughout the trees. I wasn’t surprised but I would expect a bit more from beachgoers. I live on Saugatuck island and there is virtually no trash on the beach in front of my house. Any trash is driftwood, otherwise people are pretty good about it.