There is a quarter-mile stretch of road between houses in my neighborhood. Along the sidewalk and in the grass, trash piles up, presumably thrown by motorists and pedestrians. My kids noticed a preponderance of candy wrappers post-Halloween, and we decided to pick up this litter. Once we got started, we had to collect other items: pizza boxes, fast food wrappers, ketchup packets, honey mustard cups, napkins, receipts, straws, bottles, bottle tops, juice boxes, hard cider cans, beer cans, liquor bottles, and cigarette butts. Typical stuff.
But we also found two surprises: a homework paper marked with a red-letter A+ and an unsigned anniversary card. Surely, no one had intentionally tossed out these precious items!
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Upon reflection, I realize that the clean-up effort was to teach my kids a good story, which was explicitly about helping to beautify our neighborhood. But I also had the mindset of helpers versus litterers — us versus them. The unexpected finds, however, led to a sense of empathy that transformed the story into a better one.
When we discovered the homework and the card, the kids and I wondered what might have happened. We imagined that a child had been eager to show off that grade and that a spouse had looked forward to giving the card. We wished we could give the items back to their rightful owners. We lamented that those people must have searched their cars in vain for those items, perhaps kicking the tire in frustration or even crying.
I am not suggesting that you should litter! But I think that judgment piles up even in the minds of those of us with good intentions. Finding empathy for someone else is a treasure wherever you are.
Andrew Taylor-Troutman is the author of Little Big Moments, a collection of mini-essays about parenting, and Tigers, Mice & Strawberries: Poems. Both titles are available most anywhere books are sold online. Taylor-Troutman lives in Chapel Hill where he serves as pastor of Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian Church and occasionally stumbles upon the wondrous while in search of his next cup of coffee.