"If there’s a world here in a hundred years, it’s going to be saved by tens of millions of little things. The powers-that-be can break up any big thing they want. They can corrupt it or co-opt it from the inside, or they can attack it from the outside. But what are they going to do about 10 million little things? They break up two of them, and three more like them spring up!"
- Pete Seeger, in YES! Magazine

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Garbage "Prank"


We'd stayed home most of the day. The only foray out today was for the girls' first violin lesson and there hadn't been much opportunity to do good deeds beyond our regular family care and household chores. After dinner with one of my best friends, I decided to take a walk around the neighborhood. Tomorrow's garbage day so I came up with this idea.

The project:
Roll as many residential trash cans to the curb as you can get your hands on in a one-mile walk (or more).

Time:
A few minutes more than your regular walk time.

Why bother?
Taking out the trash is, for so many people, a tedious chore, and most wait 'til the last minute, when they're hurrying out the door to get to some more important (or more entertaining) function. Wouldn't it be nice to have it done already?

Worth it?
This was an easy task, and I found myself smiling as I went about this "prank," imagining my neighbors rushing out in the morning to take care of the bins only to find the job was already done. Maybe they'd think their spouses or children or neighbors did it. Maybe it would warm their hearts to know said people would do such a thing without being ask. Maybe they'll secretly do something nice for the people THEY believe did the chore. Wouldn't that be cool?

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