Is this how we show our national pride...?

While parked at a shopping mall on the weekend, I noticed another car parking nearby.
A young guy then got out, beer in hand.

He then proceeded to down the contents of the bottle, and walked away while casually tossing the empty beer bottle into a flowerbed nearby.
Clearly sensing that he had been noticed, he then turned around and glared in my direction.
Had I decided to hold said glare for long enough, I might have had a volatile situation on my hands.

Thankfully though, I let it go and that was that.

Now we all see people littering on a daily basis, whether it's junk being thrown out of cars, to this kind of thing.
Add a bit of drinking and driving to the mix, and it gets me wondering how many South Africans (and people in general) behave in this fashion?

Is it ok to just dump trash in public spaces which other humans have to use as well?
Is it ok to operate a motor vehicle while brazenly consuming alcohol?
If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then maybe it goes a little way to explaining some of the problems we face in South Africa today...

Now South Africa is truly a beautiful country, and I think that our collective futures can hold great potential, but how can we have any pride in our country if we disregard the fact that other people might have to share it with us, or if we act like reckless rebels without a cause, all in the name of "looking cool", or because we just don't give a damn...?

Just saying...

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Do you toss your garbage on the ground...?

We all do things everyday that we may not be proud of - be it swearing at someone in traffic, or talking behind someone's back... whatever it is, there are little vices that try to catch each and every one of us out at some point in our lives.

Most of these, though, are excusable and we will generally feel bad about it afterwards, wanting to make amends in some way hopefully.
The one thing I do see though, that I cannot grasp, fathom or justify in any way, is the casual tossing of trash on the ground by people of all shapes, sizes and colours.

Don't you just love litter?

Driving behind a middle-class lady in a RAV4 the other day (with her kids in the back), I was interested to notice how she casually dropped pieces of banana peel out of the window as she drove.
In between her random acts of stupidity, her kids in the back did exactly the same. Great example Mom.

A few days later I was driving past a coffee shop in Norwood, and I saw 3 elderly men sitting at a table having coffee and what I would guess was probably a political rant... as is normally the case :)
One of them then proceeded to casually lean back and toss his paper / serviette onto the road behind him.

Now is it just me being pedantic and generally odd, or is this kind of "who gives a s**t" attitude just not acceptable in our community or our country?
Do people who litter have no sense of pride, or any kind of will to make this country a better place?
Over and above the old question "who will pick that up?", do these people just not care?

What's your take - when you see someone tossing litter in the street, or throwing an empty bottle out of a car, how does it make you feel?

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