Kindness counts

“Hey Karen!” Really, is That the Best We Can Do?

“Karen” “Kevin” and other demeaning terms like them have got to go

This made me sad. Posted right at the main entrance to my favorite local beach, it spoiled what would otherwise have been a glorious day.

It was posted over this.

These messages are posted about 500 yards from where I lived for years. Now I live about 20 minutes away but come to this spot several times a week to boogie board and beach walk.

Please bear with me while I create a likely scenario based on years of experience and observation.

I’m going to guess that the red sign was placed by a disgruntled local. He or she is probably tired of seeing the beautiful strand soiled by trash. Notice too, the red-sign writer’s use of the word “please.”

I can relate.

Notice the trash can behind the sign. Just today, during my beach visit, it was surrounded by trash, for 50 feet in every direction. We’re not talking overflow here (I checked), just trash thrown on the ground. I personally picked up and disposed of: auto parts, a sock, a diaper, innumerable cigarette butts, plastic and metal bits and bottle caps, more debris too varied to list. I walked past much more junk that I didn’t pick up. It’s a daily occurrence, way worse on the weekends when most visitors visit.

I’ve seen the locals picking up trash too, using their grabbers and buckets, particularly after a big weekend. I’ve done the same.

Then there’s the “Hey Karen” sign. Can the message, that people live nearby and consider this beach “theirs” in the same way that most of us consider our neighborhood parks to be “our parks,” have been missed? We all know that the citizens of the state of California own the beach park. That’s not the point. The point is that trash spoils the environment for all of us and should be disposed of properly. That’s not a tough message to understand. It’s frankly stunning to me that anyone can visit a place of incredible natural beauty and leave it trashed, even a little bit. What’s the camper’s mantra? “Leave it better than you found it.” Or is it, “take only pictures, leave only footprints.” What happened to those gentle reminders? We’re a part of nature and should treat the natural world kindly.

But, it was not the issue of trash at a place of incredible natural beauty that left me so dispirited. It was the name calling. Sadly, I’ve become inured to the issue of trash spoiling nearly every place on the planet.

Kudos truly, no sarcasm here, that the “hey Karen” note writer agreed that trash on the beach is a bad thing. But, to head his/her missive with the modern day shorthand for “hey obnoxious entitled racist” is wrong at every level. Why the venom, and where is that coming from? One person voices a plea for care for the environment, however poorly phrased you consider it, and the response is essentially “Hey Asshole!” this is what I think of your opinion. Is that the best we can do as members of a civilized society?

I don’t know what the cure is for this kind of hate.

I’m writing this, not because I have any answers to share, but because the signs above spoiled my potentially perfect beach day. Someone felt forced to post the message “please don’t ruin our home.” That’s not obvious enough without a red sign reminder. Then someone else slaps back with “hey idiot you’re wrong!”

The messages and their implications have stuck with me. They’re in my head many hours later and I can’t shake them loose.

Are they now stuck in your head too?

Any answers to share?