Re: Purpose

I watched my neighbor as he picked up a few stray pieces of paper from the cardboard box I had put out to be collected by tomorrow’s recycling truck. The pieces must have escaped when the heavy winds blew open the top of the box. He shoved the papers into the box and then did that thing where you alternate tucking the four top sections of the box’s lid to secure it. I had thought about doing that but was worried that the recycling crew wouldn’t recognize that the box was put out for pick-up. People in my neighborhood put a lot of things on the curb for a lot of different reasons, and the recycling guys can get a little bit persnickety about what they accept. I thought my neighbor looked upset but I didn’t know for sure until he picked up the box and dropped it with what appeared to be angry body language into my yard on the other side of the sidewalk. This was the same neighbor who had yelled at my son for driving too fast in the neighborhood when my son was driving at the posted speed. I find it fascinating that this man chooses to be upset instead of helpful, angry instead of communicative. He could have asked my son to drive a little more slowly than the posted speed because of the many children who play on the street in my neighborhood. My son, by the way, always looks out for children and also for stubborn cats who refuse to move. He grew up playing on the street with a passel of children who would all shout “Car!” and get off the street when they saw any vehicle approaching. That’s what the kids on my street seem to do too. I worry this father is teaching his child to count on drivers to watch for children but not teaching them to be aware of approaching cars. I’m sure he thinks I didn’t care about the papers escaping from the box. I would have picked the escaped pieces up myself had I seen them before I noticed him doing it. But he chose to get angry, perhaps even to feel self-righteous. I find this interesting. I wonder why he didn’t pick up those loose papers, place them in the box, do the lid trick to keep the box closed, place the box back in position to be collected tomorrow, and then walk away with a little smile and a spring in his step, proud of his good deed.