Every now and then a news item comes along that makes me shake my head and
wonder what’s in the head of others.
The story about people dumping their unwanted ad flyers on the floor at the
Walkerton post office is a perfect example.
It’s also the perfect example of how lazy society has become or of how rude
and unthinking people can be. This sense of entitlement some seem to have is
disturbing. If these people were using outside community mail boxes, would
they dump the admail in a bush or on someone else’s lawn?
Local Area Supertindent Denise Hutchison spoke of the dangerous situation
created when people inadvertently dispose of an addressed mail piece –
perhaps a credit card bill – but there’s another dangerous situation being
created here. Have you ever stepped on a glossy flyer that’s on a floor?
It’s like stepping on ice.
What would happen should a senior slip on some discarded admail piece and
break a leg or a hip. Who would be liable?
The height of the rudeness of this issue was seen while I was speaking with
Ms. Hutchinson after she had took the time to pick up a pile of papers. A
local resident walked past us then stopped turned and deposited the pieces
he didn’t want on the pile in her arms. “Here ya go,” he said, as if she
were his personal maid and he was doing her a favour by not throwing it on
the floor.
When she told him he could get them stopped he waved her off with a scoff
and left. I guess it’s not his problem. But this should be everyone’s
problem – or at least everyone’s concern.
If it continues, Brockton council should instruct the municipal bylaw
enforcer to stand at the post office and start issuing littering tickets to
any and all culprits.
The solution if simple – if you don’t want them, ask that they stop coming.
If you get them, take them home and stop being a litterbug. Have some pride
in your community if not yourself.