There are certain normal niceties of basic, decent good manners that you’d think would be universally understood by adults without exasperated journalists having to editorialize about them. Don’t leave plastic pooper-scooper bags of dog waste lying about in public. Don’t intentionally take up two parking spaces in a crowded lot just to make sure no one comes near your Cybertruck. Don’t be rude to the teenage waitstaff at the ice cream shop. Don’t pretend you cannot comprehend the mechanics of the queue at Citarella and, wearing an air of innocence, jump the line to the register. Apparently, however, it seems we need to actually compose an editorial memo pleading with beachgoers to stop leaving giant bags of garbage and other bulky discards in the general vicinity of the trash cans at the beach.
The long-suffering people who work for the town and village and who deal with the daily detritus at the ocean beaches deserve a pat on the back and possibly a cold beer.
The things the beach-going public sees fit to toss aside for someone else to deal with is jaw-dropping. We’ve seen broken beach chairs and plastic kiddie bikes, topless coolers, blow-out beach umbrellas, and baby strollers with a wheel missing, all blowing away in the wind, not to mention the regular big bags of food trash continually left beside the cans for the gulls to pick open and throw around.
If it doesn’t fit into the garbage receptacle, folks, for heaven’s sake, just take it home.