Pulling A Fast One

    Their job was stressful. These workers in Rhode Island separated bottles according to color. Many bottles were filthy. The air smelled bad. Rats scurried around.
    The photo shoot happened at a trash recycling facility. Recyclables arrive there from all over that state.
    These workers were immigrants. Part of me felt bad for them, having to work such a miserable job. Another part of me respected them. They were doing what generations of immigrants have done, busting their humps.
    Last weekend I filled my trunk with recycled trash. I drove to my town’s recycle center. I noticed a young man approaching a recycle bin for bottles. He carried a transparent trash bag. It was stuffed with trash instead of bottles.
    This guy was pulling a fast one. Instead of dumping the trash elsewhere, which requires a nominal fee, he intended to dump the trash in the bottle bin. There’s no fee at the bottle bin.
    I grasped the implication of his action. The trash would eventually end up on a conveyor, much like the one in the photo. Workers would be inconvenienced. They’d be forced to sift away this person’s trash.
     I told the young man that the bin was for bottles. He gave me a dirty look. He mumbled something about his bag containing bottles.
     I contemplated getting in his way and stopping him. It irked me, knowing that a hard working immigrants would have to clean up after this jerk.
    So what did I do?
    I backed down. I said nothing further to the young man. I calculated that it wasn’t smart to get into a confrontation, or to provoke someone into a fight, over a bag of trash.
     He dumped his trash into the bottle bin.
     Now, four days later, I’m having second thoughts. I should have challenged him. If again I see him abusing the system, I’ll step up.
    Sometimes courage requires forethought.