I got called a Bitch this weekend… and I could not be more satisfied.
The area where I live is a big tourist destination. Being that Spring Break has begun, tourist have been flocking to the beaches like seagulls looking for cold french fries.
I know that our area depends on tourist dollars. That was painfully evident when so many businesses suffered or closed during the BP oil spill in 2010. But… that doesn’t mean locals have to take all the shit that comes with the tourist dollars.
Back to the name calling…
I was out early on one of my photo walks. It was very foggy and I wanted to take advantage of that misty atmosphere. After an hour or so, I stopped to get gas at a local mega station that shares space with a fast food restaurant.
When I pulled up to the pump, four out-of-state college kids were coming out of the restaurant. After they all piled into their car, a back passenger door opened, and one of them put a drink cup on the ground beside the car then closed the door.
Understand… right in front of the car on the sidewalk, less than five steps away, was a trash can. They had to walk between their car and the can to get into the car.
They pulled out and drove around to the other side of the gas pump from me. When the driver opened his door to get out, I asked, “you all can’t throw away your own trash?” Seriously, that’s all I said, and in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.
Deep within the car, I heard one of them clearly yell, “Bitch!”
It was all I could do to not laugh, “well, yeah?”
I don’t typically confront strangers, but I was feeling pissy about the total lack of respect some tourists have for my hometown. This was nothing. You can’t imagine the junk people leave on our beaches, or how tourists sometimes treat their service providers – hotel maids, wait staff at restaurants, retail cashiers. It’s disgusting.
While I was still filling my tank, one of the punks walked over to where they had been parked, picked up the cup and threw it away. Maybe I should have been the bigger person, the adult, and simply thanked them. Instead, as I drove out of the parking lot, I flipped them off.
People! I live here, thousands of people live here year ‘round. Not just a week here, or a month there, but all the time. This is not your personal garbage dump, and we locals aren’t your personal bitches.
Show some respect and pick up your own trash! If you want to be punks and assholes stay home.
(Photos shot with a Nikon D60, using an 18-55mm, 55-200mm, 20mm f/2.8 wide-angle, 50mm f/1.8 prime lens, Nikon CoolPix S205 and/or iPhone4)
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Thin spiral notebook 
Your pictures are beautiful. I especially love the flower. You live in a beautiful place. My husband would pick up the thrash and shove it into their car, but I would be scared.
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The ‘good’ thing about my city is that the tourists are less like slobs than the natives. Well, until they see us freely litter and figure, eh, what the heck. That, or they want to blend in.
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I just adore you, you know that?
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Right back atcha!
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Great pics! I’m so glad you said something to the dumbos. People just don’t think… or they think it’s funny.
But it’s not only tourists. Hey, look at the plastic bags in grocery stores. All it takes is one dollar to buy a reusable bag and fit all your goods in it. No. Instead, shoppers get twenty, thirty bags at a time. Multiply that by hundreds of people a day in one store, multiply that by so many thousands and thousands of stores across this country alone. Upshot: continents of plastic in the ocean. Does anybody care? When I ask them, they look at me as though I’m crazy.
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I know what you mean. I have several reusable shopping bags. They’re great. Our neighbors also think we are slightly off because of how much we recycle. We have curbside pickup and we fill up two bins each week. Where a few neighbors rarely even put theirs out.
Every little bit helps.
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I would have felt like throwing the cup back into their car. What sh*ts! I too hate the way visitors to our city think they can use it like their dump. Cheapexes. I am so glad you confronted them, although their response was completely uncalled for.
The photos are beautiful as always and this time, I just can’t pick a favorite. All are great.
By the way, love your new profile pic 😀
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I’m glad you spoke up. I’m not sure why anyone thinks there’s any time or place when they can get lazy and stop being respectful of people and places. Why does being on vacation have to mean leaving manners behind? I hear spring break stories of televisions being tossed off hotel balconies and such. How does anyone EVER feel good about such reckless disregard for the property of others? How does anyone ever feel good about being rude to someone who doesn’t truly deserve it? I think half the problem is that all of the crazy behavior becomes glorified in stories and somehow it becomes okay. That needs to change.
Beautiful, beautiful photos. From these, it’s hard to tell that your area is crowded with tourists!
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Yep. Just today I took back my former complaints about their driving and how inevitably at a minimum of once a year there’s one that falls off a balcony. Just don’t litter our beaches or towns. Eventually, these punks will want to bring their offspring to visit our towns. And I know they aren’t all bad, but the worst things always get the attention.
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Also, the asshats are screwing it for themselves down the road. I believe that, technically, Karma is a bitch.
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Great pictures and it’s your backyard. You can yell get off your lawn and turn that hippey hop down, if you want.
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That picture of the dock at the bay is absolutely stunning. I love cloud pictures, and that is a great one.
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