Lessons by Actions

Today while I was out with a friend we witnessed a little girl, probably about 9 or 10 years old in her mother’s car getting ready to pull out of the parking spot. The girl opened the car door and put a McDonalds bad on the ground and shut the door.

As I got to my door I looked over and asked the mother and little girl “is this your McDonald’s bag you left out here?” Knowing it was. She just locked the door and started pulling away. Once they had passed the bag I picked it up and called out to her “thanks for littering…I know it is such a hard thing to throw your trash out in a trash can.”

So, I decided to throw the bag out in a trash can that was about 20 yards away…what a hardship.

Another woman who was with her children also saw the girl place the McDonald’s bag outside of the car said to me as I was throwing it out “I can’t believe that woman had her daughter litter!”
This makes me wonder what other types of lessons parents are teaching their children today.

Littering is NOT ok. Spitting gum out the window, throwing an apple core out the window, leaving a soda can or McDonald’s bag of trash is not OK.

But by doing these things and allowing your children to do these actions is leading our nation to be a nation of slobs, uncaring individuals, and killers of our environment. Every time I go out and see adults with their young children or teenagers out with their friends, less and less am I seeing individuals with manners and respect.

Teaching respect, manners, and the difference between right, wrong, and the gray area begins with parents and continues with neighbors, friends, and strangers.

How often have you been out, in a parking lot or in a park and saw trash on the ground and just left it there? Now picture that a child was watching you and saw you picking up that trash up and throwing it out properly, maybe the next time that child will follow your actions.

Think about it. Act on it. What you do or don’t do matters.

Your actions matter.