PICK UP YER OWN TRASH!

So, our new "Philly's Back" Mayor Michael Nutter (HONEST - that's his name!) wants to have city clean-up day on April 5th, stating that it will make us "feel better" and help lower the crime rate. Okay........

Philthandsmellphia comes by its name naturally. The municipal flower is a pile of trash. Sidewalks and subway entrances are public urinals. Even our trash trucks say: "CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, MUNICIPAL WASTE."

Hey folks - it's not for the government to launch a one-day feel-good clean-up party. It's up to every single person in town. Don't throw your trash on the street. CLEAN UP YOUR DOG POOP! Pee in restrooms - not on the sidewalk, in alleys, or in the subway station.

Case in point: I was watching the high school kids walk past our building this afternoon - they're students at St. John Neumann-Maria Goretti and BOK Vo-tech High Schools (one Catholic school, one public school) - yes, I'm mentioning names. One of them tossed a water bottle onto the sidewalk. Uh......not a smart move in front of me. I poked my head out the front door and asked him to kindly use the trash can on the corner - or take it home, that our sidewalk was for him to walk on ONLY - not dump his trash. His friends glared at him, and he sheepishly picked up his now filthy bottle and carried it away.

Mayor Nutter - You can go for BLOCKS in my neighborhood without seeing one trash receptacle. We used to have at least 2 per block! What happened?

To the guy who owns the men's clothing store at Passyunk and 12th - why do you allow the 12th Street side to become a huge trash dump? Why do you not either clean up the trash or make sure that the no dumping rule is enforced?

In the end, it's NOT the job of the government to tell people to clean up and to waste city resources on a one-day project that will most certainly be just that - one day. Folks, let's keep the sidewalks in front of our homes free of trash.

AND FOR THOSE OF YOU PASSING THROUGH OUR NEIGHBORHOOD, CARRY YOUR TRASH AND DOG POOP ELSEWHERE - WE DON'T WANT IT!