Litter Bug...

Ultimately there's always someone that walks up to the bar with food. It's just a normal thing that people do. They drink, get hungry and grab some food from one of the street vendors as they go on to the next bar. Some do it because they're hungry and some think it will sober them up so they can stay out longer and drink more. For some reason they think, if they eat, it will soak up that belly full of booze and make room for more.

So, one night a couple of guys come walking up to the front of the bar. They were the typical type of douche bags. The type of guys that either are still in college or are trying to hold on to those glamourous years of high fiving and chasing women with their abilities of spending their parents money. I think I even have a visual for this one...

I thought I did...

So when these two guys come walking up they both have food. No big deal really, I explain to them that they have to finish their food before coming in and they both nod their heads in agreement. Then they start shoving the food into their mouths and the paper plates, napkins and other things they have all fall to the sidewalk. In typical douche bag fashion they let out a little yell, give each other a high five and start to dig their wallets out to give me their ID's.

Now, I'm not going to say that this town is a clean town, everyone knows that it isn't. There's garbage all over the place and there are people that get paid to clean up after all the inconsiderate slobs. From what I understand they make really good money too. Well, they either make good money or they're doing it as a community service because they did something stupid before.

As DB#1 goes to hand me his ID, I look down at the sidewalk.

Me: "You guys gonna leave that garbage there?"

DB#1: "Uh, yea bro. We're here to drink!"

Me: "Ok.. I need you to pick up that garbage first though."

DB#1: "It's cool dude. Someone gets paid to do that. They'll get it in the morning." He then laughs and looks at his friend.

Me: "Yea, it's not cool. If you guys want to come in then you need to pick up your garbage. It's not about people being paid to clean up after you. It's a respect type thing. You leave your garbage here and it's not showing much respect for me, the bar, or many other things."

DB#1: "Dude, why you gotta be an asshole?"

Me: "Really? I'm being an asshole because I'm asking you to respect something else instead of your hair gel and your parents credit card?"

As DB#1 and I are starting our conversation I could see that DB#2 was listening very closely. In fact, he even started picking up the garbage as his counterpart kept arguing with me.

DB#2: "Alright man, is there a garbage can near by?"

Me: "There's one right around the corner. Thanks."

DB#1: "You actually picked that shit up? HA HA HA!!"

DB#2: "Yea... he's kinda right and he won't let us in if we don't."

So after I the guy picks up the garbage and tosses it I check their ID's. I tell them thank you for picking it up and they start walking in. As they walk in I walk in behind them just to take a look and see how things are inside.

DB#1 (turning to DB#2): "Man, that guys a fuckin asshole huh?"

I tap the guy on the shoulder. "Excuse me?"

DB#1: "What man? You got a problem?"

Me: "I do now. Come on, it's time to go."

DB#2 (looking at his friend): "Dude, what the fuck? You can't keep your mouth shut for a second?"

They walk out without a problem and head down the street arguing with each other like a married couple. I could hear them arguing until they rounded the corner a block away.

I don't ask for much. I ask for respect. For me, the establishment, and the people around you. At one time this was a common idea among all people. As time goes by people tend to forget the lessons that were learned by our elders. Is it the elders fault for the younger generation ignoring them or is it the fault of the peers that just let things go because that's just how their friends are?

You can choose your friends, you can't choose your family.

The streets might be dirty...

The city isn't really known for being the cleanest place in the world. At any time you'll see posters, cans, plastic cups, and all kinds of debris laying around. It might not be a lot of stuff all over but you usually can't go more than a block and see it.

I'd never call myself an environmentalist and I'm no where near a 'tree hugging hippy". Still, I don't like seeing people cast their garbage on to the streets. So when a group of five people walk up and do so it's good to help them understand where garbage goes.

When you walk up to the front door of the bar it's set back in a little area about five feet from the sidewalk. It's there for whatever reason. It's definitely not there so you can throw your garbage there.

It was early in the night when the group was walking up. A group of five and all of them had paper plates and napkins from the little pizza place around the corner that sells slices for a buck or three. As they walked up I asked them for their IDs and let them know that they wouldn't be able to bring the food in since our kitchen was still open.

The normal sighs were heard from the group and one of the ladies asked if they could finish it there and go in. I let her know that was perfectly fine. The first guy in the group that was done with his food threw his hands up like he had just won some contest and pulled out his ID. As I checked his ID the others in the group were finishing as well.

After looking at his ID I said thanks and informed the group that they needed to throw out their plates and napkins before coming in. As I was in process of telling them that there is a dumpster around the corner and a garbage can at the end of the block, three paper plates with crust and napkins hit the sidewalk about two feet from my foot.

The first guy grabbed the door and started pulling it open. I put my foot in front of the door and stood there looking between him and the garbage that the group had just thrown onto the ground in front of the bar.

"Oh, did you need my ID again? Cause you just checked it."

"No, but I do need you to do something with that garbage you just left in front of my bar."

"What? We got rid of it. You didn't say we had to put it anywhere specifically." Then the smirk came out. It's strange how some people just think they're funny.

One of the ladies then chimed in, "Mark, just pick up your garbage and throw it away."

"What, you want me to clean up the entire city? Maybe I should go pick up that shit over there too. Come on, let's go get a drink."

He pulled on the door again and it still wouldn't move with my foot in the way.

"No, seriously. You need to pick up your garbage. Don't disrespect the this place if you want to come inside."

The guy stood there and just looked at me like he couldn't believe what I was saying. The other two guys picked up their plates and the girl walked over. "Jesus Mark, I'll fuckin pick it up for you."

In a voice that's most commonly used for toddlers the guy said, "Ok, all the garbage is gone now. Now can we come in?"

"No. Have a nice night."

Then the barrage of voices came out. All of them complaining and nagging. The fun part was that none of it was directed at me. The two ladies were completely going off on this guy. The other two guys didn't say a word but slowly started heading down the street.

The group walked off and you could hear them a block away arguing.

The way I look at it, if the guys were such jag offs about garbage then they probably would have been jag offs in the bar too. They would have been bad tippers, loud, and more than likely annoyed some people. Besides, I just didn't like that they thought it was funny and cool to just drop their garbage in front of the door.

Disrespect is never really a big issue at the door. I really don't think this group was meaning to be disrespectful to the bar but that's how I took it. So I dealt with it the best way I knew how. They cleaned it up in hopes of entering and I denied them entry. Maybe they learned something but it's pretty doubtful.

Retardation hits again.