Am I a sap?
 

I feel like a sap sometimes.
I use this boat launch in Massachusetts which had a nice ramp with a
dock, is free to use, and has a big parking lot that is also free.
Yesterday when pulling my boat out I saw that some JERK had left
shrinkwrap from his boat in the middle of the parking lot. I can't
even imagine what kind of mentality it takes to do that. You would
have to be a total asshole.
Anyway, there it is a windy day. Now, the way I se it, it could have
blown into the street causing an accident or blown onto the property
of residents living next to the parking lot causing ****ed off
residents who would be complaining to the selectmen about this
facility and the free use days could come to an end.
Anyway, I picked it all up and stuffed it in the bed of my pickup and
took it home with me,. Today I'll have to bundle it in for trash
pickup at my house.

Question is... would you have done this? or what would you have done
if anything?

Boy I wish I had seen who left it. I guess there are those of us who
care and try to make things better, then there are the other ones who
go through life like sad spoiled children ****ting on everyone and
everything.

John C.

Am I a sap?
 

"jchaplain" wrote in message
snip
Question is... would you have done this? or what would you have done
if anything?

snip

If there was a garbage can in the vicinity, I would put it there. I wouldn't
take it home with me.

Am I a sap?
 

jchaplain wrote:
I feel like a sap sometimes.
I use this boat launch in Massachusetts which had a nice ramp with a
dock, is free to use, and has a big parking lot that is also free.
Yesterday when pulling my boat out I saw that some JERK had left
shrinkwrap from his boat in the middle of the parking lot. I can't
even imagine what kind of mentality it takes to do that. You would
have to be a total asshole.
Anyway, there it is a windy day. Now, the way I se it, it could have
blown into the street causing an accident or blown onto the property
of residents living next to the parking lot causing ****ed off
residents who would be complaining to the selectmen about this
facility and the free use days could come to an end.
Anyway, I picked it all up and stuffed it in the bed of my pickup and
took it home with me,. Today I'll have to bundle it in for trash
pickup at my house.

Question is... would you have done this? or what would you have done
if anything?

Boy I wish I had seen who left it. I guess there are those of us who
care and try to make things better, then there are the other ones who
go through life like sad spoiled children ****ting on everyone and
everything.

John C.

You're not a sap; you're a good guy. Most of the boaters I hang with
pick up and stow trash wherever they find it.

Am I a sap?
 

You are not, in my opinion, a sap.

You are a person that saw somthing wrong in the world (liter), who could
quite easily do something about it, and did it.

I think the reason people do things like this is because their sense of self
only extendes to about the edges of their skin. I don't like to say that
such a person is "selfish" because I believe in self interest as a positive
force.

In my view it was your healthy self interest that made you pick that plastic
up. I would pick it up because I have a sense of self that extends to
others. To seeing that it's important for me that others are not needlessly
hurt, etc.

I can't say that I never do something wrong like liter. But I almost always
try to pick up more than my share whether I'm out in the boat or walking
down the road. The same type of behavior goes for me in other areas like
tipping at restaurants, being nice to other dirves on the road even when
they are jerks, being kind by letting people go ahead of me in the
supermarket line if they have few items, etc.

Once in a while I notice that *I've* done something wrong. Maybe I realize
that I tipped less because I calculated wrong. Or maybe I'm in a big hurry
or a bad mood or just not thinking and I do something I really normally
wouldn't. Of course the person I
*did* whatever to doesn't know it. But I'm comforted knowing that I'm not
usually like that. I realize that we're all human and
sometimes make mistakes.

Another thing to consider. Sometimes something happened that you don't know
about. Maybe that guy put the plastic in his truck but it blew out (or
something like that) and for whatever reason he didn't notice. Sloppy, yes.
But I try to remember that sometimes other do bad things by "mistake" just
as I do.

As for being a sap. My American Heritage defines it as, "Slang. A gullible
person; a dupe."

I can see how picking up after another person might make you feel that you
are doing all the work for someone else's fun. But was it really that hard?
Doesn't it give you some satisfaction to have done what, at least in your
mind, was the right thing? You (and I) don't do these things to help the
slob that left it there. We do it for ourselves and for the other good
people
we respect in the world.

Am I a sap?
 

"jchaplain" wrote in message
...

No, you're not a sap. You did what was necessary and right, it took five
minutes, and you move on. Remember, stick with facts. You pointed out that
it was a windy day. It's possible that the original owner did not leave the
wrap on the ramp - that it blew there from wherever it had been (not
properly) trashed.

Am I a sap?
 

Send it to al gore with a note telling him you saved the life of a whale.

Am I a sap?
 

No, you're not a sap. You did what was necessary and right, it took five
minutes, and you move on. Remember, stick with facts. You pointed out that
it was a windy day. It's possible that the original owner did not leave the
wrap on the ramp - that it blew there from wherever it had been (not
properly) trashed.


Thanks for the response guys. Good to hear that others might consider
doing the same.
I suppose it is possible that there was some scenario that I was not
aware of, like the guy was coming back in a few minutes to pick it
back up....never know I guess.

Here's another one that happened at that lot. I dropped off some
folks at the dock and asked them to take my trash bag and dump it the
back of my pickup. Well, they dropped it in the back of the wrong
truck! When I got there the next day the trash bag was sitting inthe
middle of the lot. The guy probably got real ****ed thinking that
someone had purposely used his truck for a trash barrel and threw it
out for someone else to deal with.

So, I guess there are unknowns that can happen. Thing is to keep the
big picture in mind though.
Now if I can take after Gary and be nice to other drivers even though
they are jerks ......... I'll admit I do get too hot under the collar
on the road sometimes. Something to work on I guess...

John C.

Am I a sap?
 

On Sun, 30 May 2004 22:10:51 GMT, wrote:

Send it to al gore with a note telling him you saved the life of a whale.

Congratulations dude!! You took a do good, feel good story and turned
it into something ugly. You should be proud.

bb

Am I a sap?
 

Integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is looking. You have
integrity.

"jchaplain" wrote in message
...
I feel like a sap sometimes.
...

John C.

Am I a sap?
 

"jchaplain" wrote in message
...
Now if I can take after Gary and be nice to other drivers even though
they are jerks ......... I'll admit I do get too hot under the collar
on the road sometimes. Something to work on I guess...

John C.

Slightly different case here. If those driving jerks are putting lives in
danger, it's your duty to take them out before they harm someone else.