Trashy People, Listen Up – Southside is NOT your trash can

I am often encouraged to write an article on littering to shame people into doing what they should. I always reply. These people are without shame. It will take more than shame to make them do what they should.

During their Budget Session, the Charlotte County Board of Supervisors reminded citizens that bags for highway cleanup are available free from the convenience centers.

Last week Keysville held a clean-up day. Hundreds of citizens, churches, civic groups and businesses meet and clean up the highways. Many people are doing all they can to keep our community clean and attractive by picking up after the low-life’s who are trashing it. Good for them.

It is possible to develop a personality profile of the miscreants. On one road my wife and I help clean in Charlotte County the majority of the trash is from one person who must eat daily at Southern Cookin’ in Farmville.

On another, the main offender smokes Kool cigarettes, drinks Mountain Dew and Miller Lite and eats Whoppers. Another has a baby.

Although I am not a fan of more laws, this is a case where more enforcement of the laws already in place is needed.

Anyone caught littering should be fined AND have to spend 40 hours of community service cleaning a highway. Maybe they could be assigned a highway to clean once a month for a year.

It is possible to set up cameras then charge and convict.

Cleaning up after them is necessary but it is like picking up after children; they will let you do it for them as long as it doesn’t inconvenience them.  What we are doing isn’t working, hasn’t worked and it won’t work. The road looks good for a few days and the trashy people drop another load.

We need to organize a group to lobby to enforce the laws we already have and force the trashy people to reform or clean up after themselves.