The Mattress

What happens to a city when its citizens don’t do their part?

There it is, a filthy mattress on the sidewalk. Sadly, in my city, it is not uncommon to find that people just “dump” things wherever they see fit.

As I drive through the streets of my town, I frequently find piles of debris on the corners. Also, if people notice an abandoned house, they will put their garbage there: old furniture, dead dogs, trash bags…

It pisses me off.

Here’s the thing: I live in a Mexican border city called Mexicali.

Just across the fence (because it is still a fence, not a wall), there’s a small American town called Calexico, California, that entirely depends on the money Mexican buyers spend on its stores. Lots of Mexican citizens have made it a habit of going across the border to go shopping, to work, to attend school.

This The Washington Post article explains:

“Calexico, population just over 40,000, is, as former mayor John Moreno puts it, a “suburb” of Mexicali, the massive metropolis to the south. Even without crossing south, you can glimpse the density of the capital of Mexico’s state of Baja California through the fence slats at the border.”

In other words, you will find a lot of Mexican people in that tiny American city.

A fun fact: when people go across the border, they don’t throw trash anymore.

Nope.

They carefully place trash in the right place. They say, “here there are consequences if you litter.”

And they are right. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures site, this is what will happen if you dare litter in California.

First conviction: fine between $100 and $1,000, and at least eight hours of litter cleanup. Second conviction: fine between $500 and $1,000, and at least 16 hours of litter cleanup. Subsequent convictions: fine between $750 and $1,000, and at least 24 hours of litter cleanup.

I’m not trying to say that no one throws garbage around in Calexico, but it does look way cleaner than Mexicali.

Remember, there are lots of Mexican people in Calexico at all times. Not only that: they are the very same people that live in Mexicali.

However, once they come back to Mexico, they forget their manners.

Did I mention this pisses me off?

No, not every Mexican citizen misbehaves. But, clearly, many of them engage in this behavior. The streets of my city are a testament to that.

People love to complain about the government. It’s everybody’s favorite sport.

Yes, authorities could do more to keep the city clean. However, I do wonder: are we so blind that we cannot see the small things we could do to turn this into a beautiful city?

We could start small. We could begin with something as simple as not throwing a mattress in the middle of the sidewalk. Then we would be able to move on to bigger things, such as avoiding bribery and corruption.

Yeah, maybe I’m dreaming.

I look at my city, and I see what could be the prettiest town on Earth. Therefore, seeing an old dirty mattress on the sidewalk pisses me off.

It just does.

This piece was Divina Grey’s fault. She tagged me in this post, asking me to complete a 30-day photo challenge.

I cannot promise to follow the exact specifications she provided, but I will do my best to post periodically.

This was Day 1.