Not petty at all. Two personal occurrences:
One - when I was a courier in Cambridge, I was pootling past a queue when a chap opened his driver's window and slung out a fag packet (B&H, if you're interested). I stopped, put the bike on the sidestand, picked up the packet and threw it back in. For a moment he looked like he was going to do something, but at 6'3" and wearing leathers and helmet, I suspect I looked a tad intimidating. Little did he know that I'm soft as rice pudding.
Two - the day after I moved to Southampton, a family of four were sitting outside my house eating a McDonalds. An hour or so later, when I went out, I found the wrappers (and boy, do McDonalds know how to waste paper on wrappers) on the pavement outside my house. What got me about that one was that they did it in front of their kids, who will think it's acceptable behaviour. Didn't get their number, or I'd have reported it.
V
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A few years ago we were walking along the seafront at one of the resorts on the SE of the Isle of Wight when window winds down just in front of us and out comes a big bundle of chip papers. My Dad picked up the papers, knocked on the window, and when it was wound down camly said "This is yours, I think?" and posted it back through the window. The look on the Woman's face was excellent! The paper had not reappeared when we walked back....
I say give it back to them!
Richard
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This is all in a day's riding to motorcyclists. Every day I get a lit cigarette whistle past my ear, plus assorted apple cores, orange peel, etc. Surprisingly, it's not the beat-up bangers that are the worst offenders, it's usually a higher scale company car.
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The other day, I was following a surprisingly clean white van which had the name of its company owner all over it, along with the phone number on the back doors.
Within 15 seconds, an empty sandwich packet, bag of crisps and a drink carton came flying out of the driver's window.
At that point, I metamorphosised into Victor Meldrew. So, I broke the law by dialling the firm's phone number from my mobile. I really was so annoyed that I could hardly speak, but just managed to do a true Victor:
"Hello, I am following one of your vans, registration number whatever", and explained what had just happened and pointed out that this was a., illegal and antisocial and b., was not a very good advertisement for their business and had been in the market for their services, I would know not to use them.
I really was so livid that I regret that I didn't hold on to hear the response.
Still, it made me feel a bit better even if it did cost a phone call.
Strange lot of people around aren't there?
RB - aka Victor and proud of it
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I broke the law by dialling the firm's phone number... I really was so livid that I regret that I didn't hold on to hear the response.
Wasn't a mobile phone number was it? I can just imagine you speaking to the driver of the van; and the next thing that happends is his colleague leaps out the passenger seat into the back of the van and heaves a washing machine out the back doors at you :o)
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Thank-you for starting this thread Hugo...the more drivers (and pedestrians) we can get 'on side' the better it will be. Keep Britain Tidy!
I have a particular objection to the various unauthorised signs which regularly appear on traffic lights, lamp-posts etc and carry a Stanley knife in the car at all times to aid removing same.
I also take a dim view of 'fly posting' 20" x 30" (and larger) adverts for Raves etc on street furniture and unoccupied shop windows. Just today I have torn one such poster from the front of a BT junction box and have my eye on two more!
I feel that I have just as much 'right' to tear them down as the people who put them up (they have no 'right' but I'm sure you see what I mean).
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nobody has mentioned that charming habit of emptying ash trays in the car park. Yuk!
And I'm with the bikers above. I once remonstrated with a bimbo in a Golf who chucked a lit dog end out of the window. She told me not to be so silly!
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WOW
This really has created something of a debate!
I shall not hesitate to take the reg number of the next vehicle I see depositing rubbish on the road.
Do our hosts HJ and Mak RLBS have any comments/experiences? Are there any initiatives that they know about to combat this?
With respect to my original post at the top that I put on yesterday, I'll let you all know if I hear anything more from the Police. It looks like this antisocial behaviour needs to be taken more seriously than it is at the moment.
Keep the stories coming!
All the best and thanks for the support.
Hugo
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>>Do our hosts HJ and Mak RLBS have any comments/experiences?
HJ is your host, I am merely the door security.
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I've often thought about returning litter to people with a "I think you dropped this" remark but have always been put off by the reaction I got from someone who at three successive sets of lights was in the wrong lane, on each occasion I patiently waved him in front of me. On the third, I raised the palms of my hands and smiled quizzically (i.e. in a friendly but puzzled way). He reached into his door pocket, got out a Stanley knife and he and his passenger threatened to slit my f****** throat and various other things with a lot of "fs" in. Hate to think if he'd been the one I'd returned litter to. Be careful!!
On a slightly different tack - anyone driven A14 from M1 to A1? many lay-bys with no litter bins (in the hope that people will take litter home??) Never seen so much rubbish adorning mile after mile of road and hedge. Looks like a continuous communal dump.
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While I don't disagree with your reasoning, I would suggest you need to be a little careful "taking the law into your own hands" especially where that involves carrying and use of a Stanley knife.
I have particular frustrations with our local council attitude to signs on street furniture as assistant organised of our town carnival, run in aid of local charities. When we ask for permission to erect some relatively discreet signs advertising our event, and advising road closures, it is refused, or grudgingly allowed no more than 3 days before the event. When we once decided not to ask, and put up signs 1 week before the event, we were called and told that if we did not remove them by the end of that day then the council would remove them and also threatened legal action. And yet the house builders, computer fair and work from home merchants seem to be immune from the same rules.
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Smokie - probably the reason is that your event was easily identifiable in terms of organisers, location, etc.
On the other hand, computer fairs, work from home, and so on, have only a prepay mobile phone no. or a hotmail e-mail address that are all but untraceable.
The same applies to (here's the motoring link) abandoned vs. badly parked cars. An abandoned health hazard will often be there for weeks, while a shiny new Merc on a single yellow line can be towed within 20 minutes. At least it can round here - they know they'll identify the Merc owner and get money out of them, whereas with an A-reg Metro, there's no chance.
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What about these sad signs with balloons round them saying "Big John is 40 today!". As if we care! Stay at home, keep quiet about it and eat your cake!
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Funnily enough there wasn't a mobile number displayed and anyway, I may not have dialled it for fear of being reverse-rammed or worse. Also, it costs a fortune to call a mobie from a mobie!
Not 'arf tempted to blow the expense when it happens again though.
Victor
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Move to Singapore: the punishment there for littering is a good caning.
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