Total Garbage

Day 2 of the quest and I've already succumbed to my need to demonstrate my imperfections. My  story from May 6th did not post. That would have required saving it properly. I failed to meet that requlrement and lost it instead of posting it. Brilliant.

My apologies. The quest continues. I will double up my postings over the weekend and get the stories back on track. 

Wednesday, May 5th: Today I discovered if necessity is the mother of invention, than frustration is its large, over-bearing aunt.

A very challenging day filled with people behaving badly (in my opinion), I found my frustration level rising on a number of issues big and small--And all situations I had zero immediate control over their actions. An emotional response continue to well up inside of me as I repeatedly thought: "They don't have to do that. Why don't they just..."

And that's when I caught myself. I was using the four-letter J-word: 'just'. Plus, there was nothing useful in that thought at all. In fact, it was total garbage.

1. The word 'just' is a bad, four-letter word. It diminishes everything around it or adds unhelpful judgment. A funny thing -- Every time I say the word 'just', I find I need to repair my thinking to something more useful. Every time.
2. Nobody 'has to' do anything. No matter how much someone should do something, no matter who else it affects --The reality is that nobody has to do nothin' -- Their life and in one way or another, the lives of those around them is created by what they choose.
3. 'They' means someone is separate from you. Nothing wrong with that, except when it comes to the fact that we share one world. 

Everybody in the world...at some time...is busy messing something up for everyone else. -- Present company included. It's everyone's responsibility to help clean up the mess -- No matter who created it.

I'm driving along a Scottsdale street surrounded by beautiful, untouched Sonoran Desert landscape. The car right in front of me, at 55 miles per hour, rolls down his window and tosses his Starbucks cup onto the shoulder of the road. Are you kidding me? Thoughts of direct responses ran through my head:

1. Tell 'Mr. I'm too busy and important to take 5 seconds and dispose of my trash responsibly' what I thought about his actions
2. Force him off the road and make him go back and pick it up
3. Call his mother

That did it. I was super frustrated. And then I realized, "If I can't control what someone just did, I can control what I do next." Eureka! Thanks to my frustration, I knew what I had to do -- Get rid of the garbage.

I am now the proud expectant parent of a Scottsdale road -- a least a 2 mile stretch of a road for 2 years. I have applied to the Adopt-A-Road program. If you are not familiar, the program, here's the basic idea:

Adopt-a-Road program was created in 1993 by a group of volunteers concerned about litter on the city's roadways. Currently, Scottsdale has over 100 volunteer groups that are responsible for the clean up of many miles of roadways. These volunteer efforts help to beautify our City all while providing a service that saves money that would otherwise be spent to clean the roadway.

Volunteer Groups Make the Following Required Commitments:

• Commit to at least a two (2)-year period to the litter pick-up of a specific assigned roadway in either a one (1) or (2) mile increment.

• Commit to a minimum of three (3) litter pick-ups per year

And it's free. There is no monetary donation required to get involved. And even better,will be the Clean-Up Crew parties that are planned for after getting out there and making Scottsdale a little more lovely. (I'm an experience designer...of course the day will be made into a full-blown event). More on this later if you're interested in joining us.

So my paperwork is in, and now I wait to find out the exact location of my adopted road. I will let you know as soon as I do. And keep your eyes peeled for the Five-Foot Nothin' signage along the side of the road. Remember to drive really carefully down that stretch -- I'm pretty small and easy to miss...

Interested in adopting a road yourself? Here's the info:

Judy Melton, Program Coordinator
Phone: (480) 312-3111
Fax: (480) 312-2888

Email: Neighborhoods@scottsdaleaz.gov 

363 more adventures to create. If you like what you read, please feel free to post your comments here, subscribe and pass this along. Thanks for reading.

- Dolores McKay