Torren61
Well-Known Member
I'm trying to gauge my reaction to an incident yesterday and compare it to what YOU would do.
Yesterday was my day to work on my yard and get some things done. I've been working a lot and it's been raining and too wet to cut my grass and Saturday was a "MY DAY" day. So I started working on chores yesterday.
I spent hours cutting my grass and weed eating. I got everything looking really good. The last thing was to bust out my blower and clear the walkways on my property and my next door neighbor.
I was doing the last of it in my front yard and I noticed a piece of blue paper. It was thin and about an inch wide and two inches long. I picked it up and noticed another one. Then another. I looked in my neighbor's yard and she had quite a few in her yard. She's 90 years old and I figured she threw this paper in her trash can and missed some.
Then I looked in my back yard and saw a lot of this stuff. I'm thinking "What did I hit? What IS this stuff?" I walked further into my back yard and this paper was EVERYWHERE. I looked in my other neighbor's yard and he had two or three times as much as what was in my yard. Then I saw a large mixed group of people partying on a deck in the next yard beyond my other neighbor and I started to put things together.
It's a boy.
I've just spent hours working on my yard and there's a hundred pieces of paper blowing all over it so I say to the people on the deck, "Hey, ya'll need to come over here and pick this up. I worked for three hours on my yard and I don't want it here."
There's a mix of replies. "Hey everybody, it's Mr. Personality.", "It's biodegradable!", "Oh, you want me to come over and pick it up a piece at a time?", "What are you gonna do, call 911?"
The first call I made was to my neighbor in between me and the happy father. He looked out his yard and saw the mess but he's not one for confrontation. The second call I made was to the local police dispatch. I didn't want anyone arrested, I just wanted someone with some authority to, hopefully, tell these people to come get their paper out of my yard.
I went back in my house and a few minutes later there was a knock at my door and it's three men and three women with a leaf rake, a shop broom and a couple of baskets to pick up the paper. I called dispatch and asked them to cancel the cop and the group went to work picking up paper. I helped.
The father of the groom and the father were surly while the father of the bride was apologetic and amiable. We got it all picked up and I went over to my 90 year old neighbor's house and picked up the rest from her property.
Maybe it IS biodegradable but I have nothing to do with the kid being born or anyone over there. How long does it take to disappear? How long do I have to look at it after all my hard work?
The thing that REALLY gets me is the sense of entitlement, the unapologetic attitude, the beligerence and the lack of mindfulness and consideration for anyone else but themselves. I mean, they bought the "reveal" cannon and knew there was going to be hundreds and hundreds of these pieces of paper scattered everywhere but they did it anyway without going around the neighborhood and asking if we minded. Why not do the reveal a different way like blue smoke or give everyone a sealed envelope with a blue card or ANYTHING but send paper all over my "castle" grounds?
How would you have reacted?
Yesterday was my day to work on my yard and get some things done. I've been working a lot and it's been raining and too wet to cut my grass and Saturday was a "MY DAY" day. So I started working on chores yesterday.
I spent hours cutting my grass and weed eating. I got everything looking really good. The last thing was to bust out my blower and clear the walkways on my property and my next door neighbor.
I was doing the last of it in my front yard and I noticed a piece of blue paper. It was thin and about an inch wide and two inches long. I picked it up and noticed another one. Then another. I looked in my neighbor's yard and she had quite a few in her yard. She's 90 years old and I figured she threw this paper in her trash can and missed some.
Then I looked in my back yard and saw a lot of this stuff. I'm thinking "What did I hit? What IS this stuff?" I walked further into my back yard and this paper was EVERYWHERE. I looked in my other neighbor's yard and he had two or three times as much as what was in my yard. Then I saw a large mixed group of people partying on a deck in the next yard beyond my other neighbor and I started to put things together.
It's a boy.
I've just spent hours working on my yard and there's a hundred pieces of paper blowing all over it so I say to the people on the deck, "Hey, ya'll need to come over here and pick this up. I worked for three hours on my yard and I don't want it here."
There's a mix of replies. "Hey everybody, it's Mr. Personality.", "It's biodegradable!", "Oh, you want me to come over and pick it up a piece at a time?", "What are you gonna do, call 911?"
The first call I made was to my neighbor in between me and the happy father. He looked out his yard and saw the mess but he's not one for confrontation. The second call I made was to the local police dispatch. I didn't want anyone arrested, I just wanted someone with some authority to, hopefully, tell these people to come get their paper out of my yard.
I went back in my house and a few minutes later there was a knock at my door and it's three men and three women with a leaf rake, a shop broom and a couple of baskets to pick up the paper. I called dispatch and asked them to cancel the cop and the group went to work picking up paper. I helped.
The father of the groom and the father were surly while the father of the bride was apologetic and amiable. We got it all picked up and I went over to my 90 year old neighbor's house and picked up the rest from her property.
Maybe it IS biodegradable but I have nothing to do with the kid being born or anyone over there. How long does it take to disappear? How long do I have to look at it after all my hard work?
The thing that REALLY gets me is the sense of entitlement, the unapologetic attitude, the beligerence and the lack of mindfulness and consideration for anyone else but themselves. I mean, they bought the "reveal" cannon and knew there was going to be hundreds and hundreds of these pieces of paper scattered everywhere but they did it anyway without going around the neighborhood and asking if we minded. Why not do the reveal a different way like blue smoke or give everyone a sealed envelope with a blue card or ANYTHING but send paper all over my "castle" grounds?
How would you have reacted?