September Editorial Winner

The one with the juice bottle in the parking lot

By Kathleen Guill, Frederick Press-Leader

You’d think by now we’d all understand the basics: trash cans exist for a reason. But apparently, that message hasn’t reached everyone. Case in point, the other day in the Frederick High School parking lot, a man climbed out of his car, finished the last swig of his juice, and then, in full view of other parents, carefully placed the empty bottle right there on the asphalt in front of someone else’s parking spot. Then he climbed back into his vehicle like it was a gift to the community. Like he thought the parking space was hungry and needed feeding.

Now, let’s pause here. Because I know what you’re thinking, maybe he forgot there was a trash can nearby. Maybe his hands were full. Maybe he planned to circle back. Except none of those excuses make sense when the easiest option was to toss the bottle into his back seat like every other normal, non-litter-bug person does when they can’t get to a trash can right away. Instead, he staged his garbage in public view.

Here’s where it gets better. Another parent, tired of watching someone else’s laziness blow around the parking lot, stepped out to collect the bottle. And that’s when Mr. Juice-Bottle rolled down his window and shouted, “I was going to pick that up!” 

Sure you were buddy. That’s exactly why you placed it on the ground instead of holding onto it in the first place, because you were definitely planning to come back for it. Probably right after you invented the time machine that takes you back five minutes to avoid being caught red-handed. Although he could have avoided being caught red-handed if he didn’t get out of his car to finish his juice and perfectly plant the empty bottle in front of another person’s car. 

Let’s be honest: if you drop your trash on the ground, you’re not planning to pick it up. You’re planning for someone else to deal with it. And yelling excuses out the car window doesn’t make you look responsible - it makes you look like you’ve just been caught in the world’s smallest crime and are trying to lawyer your way out of it.

But here’s the bigger picture. Littering is lazy. It’s selfish. And in small towns like Frederick, it’s downright embarrassing. We don’t have the luxury of pretending someone else will clean up after us. When people drive through and see bottles, wrappers, and cans scattered around, they don’t think, “Wow, what a charming community.” They think, “This place doesn’t take pride in itself.”

And that matters. Because our kids are watching. If we want them to respect their community, we have to show them what respect looks like and that starts with not treating the parking lot like your personal dumpster.

What makes this situation especially angering is that it happened in front of the school. In front of parents. In front of kids. It was a master class in how not to behave. Imagine the lesson that teaches: 

“Do what’s easiest, then yell an excuse if someone notices.” 

That’s not character. That’s cowardice.

So here’s some free advice: if you can’t hold onto your trash until you find a can, just throw it in your own car. Nobody’s going to judge you for a messy back seat. We will, however, judge you for decorating the parking lot with your leftovers.

Because in the end, littering isn’t just about a juice bottle, it’s about the attitude behind it. An attitude that says, “My convenience matters more than my community.” 

And that’s the real garbage here.

The truth is that the world doesn’t need more excuses. It needs more people willing to do the little things right, even when nobody’s looking. Because character, unlike trash, doesn’t blow away in the wind.