Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Trash and Beard-less Chris

This is a typical site in the city. Americans can easily take for granted trash removal systems. When there are too few trash trucks and trashcans, when there are not sufficient funds to enact reform, and when (for whatever reason) there is not an aesthetic to maintain clean public space, places can look like this.


This neighborhood is on the northern periphery of the city. Note the wide road and the open space ahead.


Chris removed his beard, which he had grown three years before to give the impression of increased age to his rambunctious teenage students. That was three years ago… he hasn’t gotten any younger… is the beard any longer necessary?

1 comment:

  1. The worst public trash I'd ever seen was in Syria. There were villages that seemed to have decades worth of garbage just shoved into whatever space was available. In Syria, I assumed it was the lack of disposal services given the state of the economy (and also how poorly even the historic sites were kept). When Monica Morris returned from her Asian adventures to the United States and visited me in NYC, the first thing she said about the city to me (after having just been to India) is how dirty she found the city to be ... I will say in Harlem I saw a LOT of people casually throw their garbage onto the sidewalk within mere feet of a trash can. That drives me nuts; I just couldn't understand it.

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