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Photo By Kip BrowneSo a few days ago I was driving somewhere with Connie Nompelis (No-bell-iss) and she pointed out a "DO NOT LITTER" sign. The sign was not on a utility pole, like the one pictured above, but on somebody's property.
"I love those signs--!" Connie gushed.
And I responded something like, well, I doubt...
...if the signs have much impact. I hardly think some no-account litterbug corner-hanger-out-all-the-timer walks down the street--the freaking MIDDLE OF THE STREET--and sees one of those "DO NOT LITTER" signs and he's all, like, "Oh, gee, I WAS going to throw my empty Cheeto bag on the ground, all casual-like, but now that I see the 'DO NOT LITTER' sign I will instead attain some minimum standard of social responsibility, shove it in my back pocket and take it all the way home."
(No, I wasn't actually THAT articulate in Connie's car. Whatever I said in Connie's car was sort of like the "first draft" of what I'm writing here, but I can do Connie's response the same favor)
Connie responded the point of the sign was it broadcasts a MESSAGE. The message is "somebody lives here who gives a damn, who is trying every day to make things better." It would be for the best, she thought, if house after house were to start sprouting signs like that, constant visual evidence that NoMi neighbors stand shoulder-to-shoulder, turning this place from something rough to something BUFFED.
Connie can convince me the moon is made of green cheese, if she likes, and send me scurrying for my crackers. I found myself agreeing about the sign and thinking, hey, where can I get one of those "DO NOT LITTER" signs?
Of course, first I'd like to have a sign that says "NO PHONEBOOKS" to put on a front door, right above the front step, until one blessed day foretold in prophesy somebody will look at the sign and say, "How quaint!" and a little child will ask, "Mommy, what's a PHONE BOOK?"
When we placed four gargage cans on the corners of the 6th Street block club, many people felt the same ways as you Johnny.
ReplyDeleteHowever, to our surprise a lot of people actually use them. Slowly, but surely people have started to put garbage in there, even gang bangers.
I agree with Connie that is also about making a statement. While, not everyone will follow the rules, no ever does, some will. It also says, we don't tolerate that behavior here.
Every weekend, I spend a hour walking our block club picking up litter. When I started out, there was three huge garbage full of litter, now there is only half a bag. Everytime I amn out there, someone will stop by and say thanks for cleaning up the neighborhood.
Besides that, I also have gotten to know a lot of people in the block club just by walking around picking up garbage.
If every block was to organize and walk their blocks at least once a week, the neighborhood would be a much better place.
To learn more about the city initiatives check out this Web site.
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/solid-waste/clean-city.asp
Does anyone besides me find the ultimate dising of the neighborhood is throwing the dirty Pampers out the car window? How gross can some people get?
ReplyDeleteJust so you know, that 22 block that is sprayed painted on the stop sign is every where. Before, bought our house in Hawthorne, we lived right on 21st street, between Girard and Irving. The 22 Block, is a vicious "clutter" of individuals that have tormented neighbors, homeowners and renters the like.
ReplyDeleteWhen I would get my kids off the school bus, there was a huge fight, I had to call my husband to come be with me, cause I was scared for my safety as well of my children, I had asked them to move so my kids could get off the bus, and they was rude, until my Knight in shining armor arrived, and then 4th precinct not far behind him.
I'm well aware of all that "22 block" graffiti. I have a bunch of photos I just haven't had a chance to get up there, yet, and this one was just yanked out to illustrate this particular post!
ReplyDeleteHoepfully, I'll get the photos up later.
My first apartment in the twin cities was the house pictured for this post! I believe my landlord had verbiage in the lease requesting we pick up trash around the house. He'd come over with donuts for us when he noticed us raking or picking up trash..
ReplyDeleteTell us more! What a great little anecdote. I can't even see the house address from this photo, though the intersection is apparent.
ReplyDeleteI lived in that house too, I worked at the now-defunct Kodak lab on Broadway. I'd get off of work at 11pm or 1am and walk home thru the neighborhood. Lots of my suburban coworkers thought I was nuts, but in nearly 2 years nothing happened. Our landlord ran the bakery on Irving and Broadway, he was a nice guy and made good donuts.
ReplyDeleteWhat struck me the most about living on 21st/Irving (and I didn't realize this until after we moved) was that we knew most of our neighbors by sight, even if we didn't know their names. People were always outside, so during our "garbage clean up's", we got to know our neighbors.
ReplyDeleteWhen I later moved to MacGroveland, I didn't know what my neighbors looked like, because they never went outside. Here they lived in a beautiful, safe environment, but they holed up inside their houses like they were bunkers.