Finally, it’s here! I haven’t been so excited since I don’t know when.
No, it isn’t spring that has me all in a dither. It’s cleanup month in Watonga. Three big roll offs have been placed at the site of the old lumber yard next to the Wilkerson Funeral Home. Already there are couches and TVs piled up waiting for the city employees to come and use an end loader to put them in the dumpsters.
The news gets better, though. The city, through council, is going to help residents get their streets and alleys cleaned up. They will come around and pick up mattresses and other items the trash trucks don’t take, if it is placed on the city right of way. I mean, they aren’t going to come into your yard and get your ’55 T-bird that has been on blocks since ’56. But if you have a stack of old furniture, place it on the edge of your property and it will magically disappear. Probably ought to call if there are appliances, though, just to make sure.
But we should all take advantage of this opportunity. It saves you a trip to the dump, saves your back having to load the wet mattress that has been in the carport since September and is now soaking wet and weighs a ton, and saves having to pay if you don’t have a utilities bill to show.
In addition to taking advantage of the chance, we should all be thankful. I know I am. Two mattresses disappeared off my street already. They were dumped when an apartment was vacated and there they sat, although whoever put them there had to know the trash truck wasn’t going to take them.
I have to say the dumped furniture and just plain trash really hacks me off. There isn’t any reason for it. Don’t be a lazy sloth, take that stuff to the dump. Maybe, like me, the stuff was nearby when you moved in. Ok, take it to the roll offs or contact the city to see if perhaps someone will come haul it away.
Maybe you aren’t responsible for leaving the junk sitting there, but you are a citizen and as such bear a certain civic duty to others. If you don’t clean it up, who will? What, you think the city is going to do this every year? I wouldn’t bet on it. The hours those workers are putting in to clean up this mess aren’t free.
I know I have hauled dead end tables and the carcasses of ancient floor lamps to the dump myself, on my own time and my own dime. We all should.
And frankly, there are areas of town that look like hell. There is garbage in every yard, busted couches and derelict toilets on the streets. No one will be interested in coming to a town that doesn’t have enough self-respect to wipe its own nose, so to speak. No one will want to move here, build a business here, invest in a town that looks like crap. We don’t care, why should anyone else?
Well, we do care, and this is our chance to show it. Get off your ah, couch, and drag the old junk to the curb. Need help? Ask for it.
We can do better, we deserve better. The getting better starts with each of us, and cleanup month is a good place to start.