Easter Eve: Karma is a boomerang

Karma is a boomerang, and sometimes it hits you faster than others. I nearly always pick up my dog's poop. Nearly always. Exceptions are if I happen to be out of poop bags. I bring Goober with me to a lot of places, so she is out a lot. She usually goes a certain amount of times a day, so sometimes she surprises me and I am unprepared.

I was unprepared yesterday. She went on my front lawn and again on the little divider of grass between the sidewalk and the road. I was on my way out and figured I would pick up after her that evening. Well, I stopped at home again to pick some stuff up a bit later and parked on the road. Ran into the house, ran out, got in the car and drove to school.

As I was driving to school, I noticed the smell. I had managed to step exactly in the spot where Goober had left her mess and I had not picked it up. Boomerang. Smack in the forehead.

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There's a new bill in the Connecticut legislature right now that proposes expanding the bottle bill. The bottle bill is the one that put 5 and 10 cent (where is the cent sign on my keyboard? I want to bring back the cent sign! I love the cent sign!) deposits on soda and beer in many states. Now they would like to amend it to include water bottles, since that is probably one of the most-consumed beverages nowadays. I know it takes up the most space in my recycle bin every week. I believe they also want to increase the deposit amount by 5 c w/a slash through it.

The grocery stores have lobbyists fighting this, saying something about following the dime from manufacturer to grocery store to consumer which I think is meant to make you feel that the grocery stores get the shaft in all this. Some people say that barely anyone bothers to bring their bottles and cans back anyway, and another 5 c w/a slash through it incentive won't matter. Others think this is a good way to encourage recycling.

I am all for the amended bottle bill because: 1. I do not care about the grocery stores, who I see as The Man and I have over time developed a deep resentment for The Man. 2. I heart the environment. 3. It means that more bottles will say 5 c w/a slash through it, which helps my campaign for bringing back the cent sign.

But most importantly, and in all seriousness, this helps the homeless. I don't think most people in Connecticut see this aspect since they live in suburbs where they hide their homeless better than here in Hartford. Or else they are just not as cool and empathetic as I. But every trash/recycle day I see the homeless descend into the West End and pick through the trash and recycle bins.

There is one guy in particular who I like a lot. They all pull out anything worth a deposit, but this guy additionally goes through and pulls out anything not worth a deposit but still recyclable that is in a trash bin and deposits into the recycle bin. He is also the early bird so he gets most of the 5 and 10 c w/a slash through it deposit-worthy stuff. The later comers only get whatever someone happened to put out after he has gone by. So here is a man that is enterprising, ambitious, and yet still cares enough about the environment to separate recyclables that he doesn't make a dime off.

This is a man I want to help support. In fact, I have stopped bringing back any recyclables with deposits and leave them all for him. Therefore I support the bottle bill amendment because I want to help the homeless. Take that, grocery stores AKA The Man! Karma is a boomerang, and it's gonna get you guys in the end if you're not nice.