An Open Letter to the Woman Who Tossed Her Trash Onto Genesee St

Every once in a while, you see someone do something that's so surprising, you can't begin to understand how their mind works.

Dear Person,

You probably didn't see me, but I was waiting at the light on Genesee Street, getting ready to park right behind you so I could head into Character Coffee to meet a friend.

I watched as you returned to your car, got in, then casually tossed the cup out of your open door - still covered in whipped cream and maybe caramel - onto Genesee Street.

I'll admit, it took me a few seconds to comprehend what I was watching. I expected you to realize the cup had clearly fallen out of your car, and then quickly scoop it back up to properly throw away. Surely, somewhere you were headed yesterday had a garbage can, right?

You didn't. You sat in your car, texting on your phone, without a care in the world. As I pulled even with your car, preparing to parallel park, I got a good look at you: you're young, maybe twenty-something, driving a big, pale grey car that looked more like it should belong to your grandpa. A girl that certainly looks like she should know better. You were well-groomed, clearly you care about how you look - so why don't you care about our city?

I had planned to tap on your window and let you know you "dropped something" but you pulled away before I even finished parking - the cup flipped into traffic by oncoming cars.

Anyone who walks or drives down Genesee Street sees trash in the road. I just never thought people could be so brazen as to just throw their garbage into a roadway, in broad daylight, in front of businesses other people are working so hard to build. In a city hundreds are working to bring back.

I'm embarrassed for you - that you don't know any better. I'm disgusted that you don't think the main street of Utica is only worthy of being your garbage can. Maybe the real trash wasn't that cup in the road, maybe it was the person that put it there.

It's pretty simple: throw away your garbage in a garbage can.