Count Down to 60---Cleanliness is next to---

Why have so many, become so lazy?

Why, have so many, become so nasty?

I'm at a loss, wondering how we have managed to reach this place where we are. I will say first, that not everyone is this way. Not everyone has forgotten how to act in public, but so many seem to have done this very thing.

I remember as a child being taught to pick up after myself. If I had toys out, pick them up and put them where they belong. When the laundry was done, the clothes were put away. After we ate, the table was cleared, any left overs put away, dishes were washed and put away and the kitchen cleaned. The house and yard was kept clean, neat and orderly.

Now, as a so called responsible adult, I will be honest in that I am not perfect. My house and yard are not as spotless as my parents or grandparents would have had it. I'm working on doing better. Especially after seeing how others are becoming. I want, if someone were to suddenly appear at my door, to be able to open it wide and welcome them in without embarrassment. That being said.

Can anyone explain to me why it seems that people have forgotten simple manners? Cleaning up behind themselves, is not that difficult. If you go out to a fast food restaurant, pick up your trash and place it in the receptacles provided. If you drop napkins on the floor, pick them up, it isn't that hard. Yes, I do know that they pay people to keep the tables clean, but there are times they are busy doing other things. That is the way of business now, more work with less people. It is unfair to leave behind your mess for others to have to deal with.

All along the roadsides you see people's trash, tossed from vehicles as they pass. If you don't want the sandwich wrappers, drink containers, bags, what ever in your car, don't take them in it to begin with, or be responsible and dispose of them where they belong. In the trash, not along the side of the road. Animals seeking food will come too close to the road or get their head trapped in a container. Trash can draw rodents or even larger mammals into areas that would not ordinarily be found. Trash can cause harm to those out trying to pick it the litter by causing them to get cut on any broken glass, bitten by insects or animals consuming the food remains, or even hit by passing vehicles with inattentive drivers. Besides the fact of it being very unsightly.

 I have seen tables with the trash left behind, individual packets of salt that have been opened and emptied on the table, napkins left on the table and in the floor. Packets of condiments are scattered about, empty drink bottles left. You look at that and wonder what their house looks like. Their house may be fine, it just may be that its out in public that they don't care as someone else has to clean up their mess.

 I've read and listened many times to the complaints of those who must visit truck stops. It seems that there are some (not all, but a few) truck drivers, who can be horribly unsanitary and nasty. Throwing trash out into the parking area that includes things I will not mention here. They forget or do not care that they are in a public place when nature calls. They act as if they are the only ones walking the earth and the earth spins around their walk. Sadly, they are not alone in this attitude and with these actions. I have been told that truck stops have trash receptacles available, that yes, there is someone that cleans the showers and restrooms, but to leave them clean makes their job easier and leaves it more sanitary for the next person who comes along. There are trash receptacles in rest areas and fast food parking lots, even walmart has trashcans in their parking areas.

 We are a people who worry about disease, and yet we act like this. We worry about what is in our food, but not what germs we may leave behind for others. We worry about who may follow us into a restroom, but not how we leave the restroom for the next person.

 This is just my opinion, but I believe that we could do much better. We could and should remember that line about cleanliness and follow it.

(The photo of the two people are my husband and granddaughter, not messy people but were sitting at a table before it was cleared. It was the only example I had of a table)