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This may be OT for this board, but I'm delayed for a UA flight (7511 iad to dfw) and this took place in a united-only terminal.

Anyway, so these two guys are taking up four seats in the waiting area via strategic placement of luggage and drinks/trash. Guy A has a little pile stacked up on one seat, and water from a not-totally-empty bottle had spilled onto the seat. I suppose I could have asked him to move the suitcase and trash, but I didn't mind standing for a bit.

I could tell this guy has absolutely no intention of picking up his trash, and so (not having anything better to do (flight is delayed), I decide to see what he does.

Sure enough, when he goes to board, he leaves the trash. So I say, "excuse me, but the trash can is right over there.". He gives me a nasty sort of look, but picks up the trash. A woman standing nearby actually thanked me!

So my question:

H
1. Hostile act by me?
2. Too much time on my hands?
3. Useful pointer for him?
4. 2 and 3

Thoughts?

1. Not hostile, but gutsy. (And I commend you for it! ^ )
2. Nope.
3. Yep.
4. 2 and 3.

I get really pissed when I see people throw cigarette butts on the ground outside...depending on my mood, I usually tell them to pick them up, make sure they're extinguished, and throw them in the garbage.

good job! ^

i don't like to see people make a mess and I like to tell them trash cans are made for a reason. I find it good for people remind others to pick their trash up.

Absolutely the right thing to do in any location. Bravo!

Well done on all counts!

Good job! ^ Some people just need to be reminded to do the right thing. In fact, sometimes putting a little bit social pressure can make the world a little better place to live.

That was definitely the right thing to do! Bravo to you for having the guts to do it! ^ ^ ^

Believe me, if I had been any where nearby, I would have thanked you too! Great Job!

Your action was commendable, but I think it is too much to expect that a person like that would do anything differently the next time when there is no one gutsy around to put pressure on him to clean up.

Moved to TravelBuzz

cblaisd
Moderator, United

Answers to the OP's questions:

1. No
2. No.. There's always time to be environmentally conscious
3. Yes, though It will likely not have any effect when it comes to next time
4. Huh?

I'm just one of those guys who has no problem speaking his mind. Let me offer a few other instances where the should never be any problem speaking up:

(given)
Trash - 'Hey, buddy, the can is right over there."

At the buffet - "Yo, pal, use those tongs!"

Stopped at a light - "Listen, chief, there's a kid in my car. Tailgate me anymore and there'll be this bottle in your windshield."

In the porno booth - "Get this, freak, I'm gonna chop that thing off if you don't get it out of there!"

Okay, that last one was unnecessary.

You guys can feel free to tell people to do anything you'd like them to. On the same note, if they turn around and tell you to F#$@ off, don't be too surprised at that either.

Kudos on saying what you did!

When I've seen people litter before I've said something to the effect of "excuse me, I think you dropped something." This is sufficiently non-confrontational for me to feel comfortable doing it. I like your approach better though :D

I think you handled this nicely. Your statement was polite and informative, the best way to get results. Not everyone will be as cooperative and some are downright hostile when reminded of their slovenly ways.

I used to work with a guy who was much less subtle. Whenever he saw someone littering, he would point at them and yell loudly - "LITTERBUG!". :D It was very funny and frequently embarrasing to those he singled out. However, it usually worked. Most of the time they would pick up what they had "dropped" and deposit it where is belonged. He was a rather large fellow who looked like a bouncer, so he rarely had anyone attempt to intimidate him.

On a similar note, I was waiting to board a US flight yesterday morning at LGA. The shuttle area was pretty packed, but I found several empty seats. One of them had 3-4 used tissues in the seat, so naturally, I took the one farthest away. I didn't pick up the tissues because a) I didn't know what was in them and b) I had no tissues of my own to pick them up with.

Moments later, two older women came over, saw the tissues, picked them up, and deposited them on top of my bag, which was on the end table--not taking up a seat. I burst out "Hey! That's not nice!" but they turned their backs, sat down, and began chattering in rapidfire Italian.

Passing the litter on is a new one for me. I picked up my bag and let the offending snotty bits fall on the floor. I am normally unable to litter, but in this case, I wasn't willing to play janitor.