Giving a hoot

Last night my wife and I went by New World Brewery after work for a quick pint before going home to eat dinner and watch HEROES on DVR. While we were there in our usual chairs slaving on the Megatouch machines, our old pal Martin came up with a ladyfriend.

I was worried he thought we were being rude since we merely grunted while punching letters in a frenxy, but when once we finished our game and I found him outside he admitted to also having a bit of a problem with the game, too. I felt better about myself.

The four of us got to talking about how we were "right down the street" and when we started discussing our neighborhoods, we realized that we both lived in Tampa Heights just about a block away from one another.

Small world. Small town anyway ...

So we keep talking and she mentions her dog - a St. Bernard. A light bulb immediately goes off over my head and I realize that I know who she is though I couldn't verify her face: she's the lady with the St. Bernard who picks up trash while walking her dog. I've seen her plenty of times, though I guarantee without the dog I wouldn't know her. It's odd how much I recall people's dogs better than their faces or names. She was actually a bit delighted that her deeds went noticed. If only we had less people actually making a mess in the first place ...

I know a lot of it comes out of windows since Tampa is a busy street. I pick up trash out of my yard almost daily. Mostly McDonald's, candy wrappers, religious tracts and beer bottles. A lot more of it though is unfortunately tossed by pedestrians walking to and fro or waiting at bus stops or from people on bikes.

In any case I only pick up trash in my own yard. It probably wouldn't kill me to bring a bag along on a dog walk though. It's a good idea.