|
3/10/2007
Here in the mid
Hudson Valley in New York, we are starting to see some of the early
signs of spring. The skunks are out in full force, as is evidenced
by the foul odors in the air when the get hit by cars. The Maple
Sap buckets are hanging on the trees signaling the Sugaring Season, the
snow is beginning to melt, and the temperatures are beginning their slow
climb out of the freezing of winter, and into the warmth of spring.
I really do love the spring. The birds chirping,
the grass turning green, the leaves opening up on the trees, the
wonderful smell in the air after a spring rain. It is a happy time
of the year for me, but it brings me some sadness too.
I work outside, as a school crossing guard. I
stand at the intersection of a state highway (not a terribly busy one, a
small 2 lane highway) and two local streets. Next to me, there is
a village park. I have a park bench at the edge of the park, in
the grass, where I sit while I'm waiting for the children to come along.
In the spring, as the snow melts, I am always saddened when I see
literally hundreds of cigarette buts all over the place. On the
road, on the grass between the road an the sidewalk, on the sidewalk,
and even all over the lawn in the park, where countless kids run and
play.
My corner isn't the only place that I see them.
In every parking lot I go to, on every sidewalk I walk on, in the
village, in the woods, all over the ground everywhere. In
campgrounds, and forget about taking your kids to the beach to let them
play in the sand. As more and more laws are passed banning smoking
in many public areas, and "sin" taxes on cigarettes are raised in state
after state, I hear a lot of talk about "smoker's rights." What
about the rights of those of us who don't smoke. Smokers should be
able to pollute our air, and litter our ground, and those of us who
don't smoke have no rights? I say raise the tax on cigarettes even
more, another $5 a pack might be enough to pay for public employees to
clean up the cigarette buts that smokers leave behind.
Granted, I'm not a smoker. Perhaps I'm partial,
maybe my viewpoint is skewed. I don't smoke, but I enjoy sex.
If I started throwing my used condoms on the ground, I wonder how many
smokers would think that was acceptable? |