I was struck with sadness and a small dose of anger Monday morning as I opened my e-mail and found a letter from Chris Gorsek, an instructor at MHCC, telling me that the Earth Day clean-up scheduled for last weekend had brought in just two children from Troutdale Elementary School.

Gorsek said that if it hadn’t been for those two kids showing up, it would have just been him and the raindrops falling endlessly from the sky. Wow, that is so sad, but so true.

Why is it that so many in our society, and in our generation, that is slowly going to take over, are so apathetic and lazy when it comes to anything constructive and helpful? Many of us don’t even have the will to ride the bus or car-pool.

I will be the first to admit that I did not show up last Saturday, but I will give myself credit for being a recycle freak and an anti-litter bug. I don’t go around leaving my Jack In the Box wrappers on someone else’s car when the trashcan is a 90 degree turn and two steps away, and I don’t throw my gum wrappers on the ground. Sometimes, though, my strong hatred for littering and people who don’t recycle isn’t quite enough.

There needs to be more of an involvement here, people, or our precious world filled with malls and SUV’s is going to slowly be covered by trash because people are too lazy to walk to the trash can, or, heaven forbid, keep it in their car until they get home.

My purpose here isn’t to badger you for being that person who left their crap on my car last week, but it is to say that I hope you understand the consequences of those actions because this beautiful place where we live is being covered with a confetti of trash and losing much of its glory.