It's Not How It Looks

I watched a man picking up trash on the sidewalk and boulevard of Cedar Street. I approached him and said that Adopt-a-Block is looking for people just like him.

“What kind of people are those?” he said.

“People who care about the condition of their neighbourhood and take the time to pick up stuff that’s been tossed on the ground,” I said.

He pointed to an apartment building across the street from where we were standing.

“I live over there and walk down to the water and back with my plastic bag picking up garbage,” he said.

“Do you want a trash picker and garbage bags?” I said.

“Oh no! Then I’d look like someone doing a community restorative justice job, like punishment for some crime I’d committed,” he said.

I laughed and thought of all the Adopt-a-Block volunteers and how it’s not how it looks, at least not to me. I wondered if the people who pass by us as we take up our positions and remove the rubbish from the sidewalks and boulevards of this city, that they imagined us fulfilling some sort of punishment. I smiled at the idea.

I thanked the man for helping to clean up the City however I did not shake his hand. His clear plastic bag contained items that I would not pick up without my trusty garbage tongs.

My Tool of Choice