i will have a mc trashburger with my slovenly ways

Trashcans at fast food places

the cookies were definitely a deal at 3 for dollar? 

        Yesterday I was in line at Mc Donald’s in the drive thru lane, something I rarely do as I usually just go inside and sit down and eat, but I was in a hurry so I opted to just drive through. First off, I am not a fan of sitting in a car that is running and consuming gas that is heating up the environment and secondly and the topic of today’s discussion is the fact that even Mc Donald in Canton South no longer has any trash cans for their take out waste, they used to but no longer see the need, although now they have increased the amount of trash stemming from the oversize receipt they throw at you whether you want it or not at the drive thru window. The reason for the receipt is a minority of consumers who complain about service and those that want to take it off their taxes or use it for their per diem account.

     As I was sitting there wondering if what I just ordered would possibly be what I receive this time as I usually do, I noticed the pale yellow Cadillac Escalade obviously out of place here at Mc Donald’s with its shiny rims and spotless appearance, making me wonder if I had a lot of money to buy that vehicle would I be sitting in a drive thru lane at Micky D’s right now. That was when I noticed the Mc Donald’s worker take the money from the occupants and then offer them change and a rather large receipt, upon which after inspecting the contents of the bag the Escalade pulled away but stopped a few feet from the window and tossed the receipt directly out of the vehicle and on to the ground.

    Now it takes money to buy a vehicle like that and surely somewhere along the way, they may have had to do some labor work for their pay. It just made me wonder who in the heck did they think was going to pick up that receipt? Especially since it was blatantly obvious they didn’t want it to tarnish the inside of their vehicle. Possibly the minimum wage worker who shuffles burgers for a buck? Or maybe the chipmunk or the squirrel that have long left for greener pastures about a hundred years ago as man started to move in. Maybe they think it will just rot as it blows around the parking lot. Who knows what these numb chucks were thinking? They didn’t care as long as they didn’t have to deal with it. I can remember the day when they had a trash can at the exit of the drive through so you could place it there. Problem solved.

    Not quite. It seems as if Mc Donald’s was the only one who voluntarily placed trash cans in their parking lots and often they were seen stuffed full of everything from Arby’s bags to Taco Bell wrappers to beer bottles and you name it. Think I even saw a car seat and used pampers at times. Mc Donald’s was the only place in town where a person could clean their car out for free. I am sure the reason the trash cans are gone is because they were being used to much and no one else seemed to be wanting to take responsibility for the trash they create so why should Mc Donald’s. At the same time I feel they do have a responsibility as well as any place does that generates waste and serves the public from grocery stores to convenient stores to the carpet supply place. The number of containers you should offer should be proportionate to the amount of trash you generate. With a minimum of one per business that receives profit.

      A drive down any of our roads from I-77 locally to St. Rt. 800 in the wintertime when the grass alongside the roadway is brown and not covered with snow, and you will see it yield everything from tires, to broken pieces of furniture, to trash from fast food places taking up the majority of what can be gleaned that was not natural, instead thrown out the window or blown off a truck by a human. We as humans in business advertise on the sides of the trash and that indicates who should be more diligent in their cleanup efforts than others from the trash accumulated through cleanups.

     So who is to blame?  The fast food places. The grocers, or the convenient stores, or better yet  maybe ourselves, as we know quite well that the trash should stay in our car till we get home and then dispose of it. After all we are the ones who purchased bag and all. But unfortunately by looking at the sides of the road, we can see this isn’t going to happen with some of us.

      Still is there another way. Since the ones who receive profit from the trash should have a limited liability to reduce or offer a place to dispose of what they create, as this would be a deterrent to over bagging,  then it would seem trash cans would offer a solution at each place that offers anything that could be construed as waste. Be it the plastic shield off a pack of batteries to the wrapper off a fast food sandwich. We shouldn’t have to rely on other people to clean our roads and environment. Why are trash cans missing?

     Because we elect people into public office that are clueless to what constitutes a good image for our society. I blame the Canton Township trustees, the Stark County Planning Commission, or any elected official responsible on a local, county, and state level, for approving plans that in effect allow individual companies to forego placing trash receptacles at businesses and that don’t require them in plans for any existing structures, or in future planned projects where appropriate.

    I also blame the local, county and state governments for ineffectual law making that does not put the penalty high enough to deter or eliminate trash being thrown in places other than an approved container. Stark County has a litter officer who tends to spend his time busting local truck drivers for anything but litter while letting out of state trash haulers carelessly distribute their filth from neighboring states directly on our roadside. What’s up with all this? If the sheriff needs a PUCO officer, then why doesn’t he call one? The state has plenty. Get him back to busting people for littering. Wouldn’t hurt to have the game warden visit a few sites along the road I have seen with dead deer carcasses that evidently were poached and disposed of along the road so the poacher wouldn’t have the evidence on his land. This is the garbage that we drive by daily. No longer does the state pick up dead deer even if it is in the middle of the road and is a road hazard. Instead we get to see the rotting carcasses as well as the refuse of our daily lives spewed on to the sides of our rods with increasing frequency. This is where we live it is our backyard and we each have a responsibility if nothing else to express our dissatisfaction with our local authorities in their handling of this matter of our neighborhoods being trashed.

     Any change at any level is better than none, if nothing else. I hope that maybe I have changed an opinion or two as to what should be done. Even if it just makes each person more responsible in their own trash handling, then maybe I have achieved something. Thankfully no paper was used in writing this blog and I would hope you keep it electronic and a lot greener and share it with your friends as we all need to make our local area cleaner and then the country in general spotless as we go along.