America the Beautiful...

O beautiful for spacious skies,/ For amber waves of grain,/ For purple mountain majesties/ Above the fruited plain! / America! America! / God shed his grace on thee / And crown thy good with brotherhood/ From sea to shining sea!

Well over a century ago, Katharine Lee Bates, an English professor at Wellsley, took a train ride across this great country. As she stood on a mountaintop in Colorado, words for a poem that she later entitled “Pikes Peak” began to come to her. It was first published in the July Fourth edition of her church bulletin in 1895. In 1910, the words were first published with the music, “Materna,” by Samuel Ward of New Jersey in 1882.

Of course, anyone traveling by land across this great nation of ours can still see the same spacious skies, fields of amber grain, purple mountains, and great orchards. America is truly a blessed nation of plenty.

As we started our most recent cross country trip in May, we added a new sight to Bates’ long list. Upon departing our neighborhood, we immediately came upon a crew of volunteers gleaning litter along the roadside. They worked quickly and efficiently to fill bags with trash others had deliberately tossed from their vehicles or “lost” from poorly packed truck beds. These volunteers also gathered debris caused by recent storms. Georgians weren’t the only teams of volunteers we passed along America’s byways. We saw Texans and Californians wearing gloves to amass the throwaways of others. In every state we traversed, we also saw countless official signs designating areas that volunteers from businesses and civic clubs, schools and organizations keep clean.

With each crew scouring the roadsides, I see patriotism at work. Here are people taking visible action to keep America beautiful. Manifestation of national pride comes in many formats from waving the flag to wearing the uniform. However, these unsung volunteers who give of their time to clean the roadsides personify that familiar line from Bates’ verse: “And crown thy good with brotherhood.”

Audrey Hepburn in the July issue of Good Housekeeping Magazine says it this way. “It’s that wonderful old-fashioned idea that others come first and you come second. This was the whole ethic by which I was brought up.”

And while I admire these civic minded folk and think we should salute their untiring efforts on this Fourth of July, I likewise find fault with those who create the need for such work. Litterbugs are not only inconsiderate of their neighbors, they represent one of the worst attitudes we find in this great country. No matter how many flags they may wave, fireworks they may light, or patriotic songs they may sing, their thoughtless actions state loudly that they have little regard for this country and its citizens. If any litterbug thinks his unpatriotic disregard for others represents a protest for a perceived wrong, he is wrong. Any so-called “message” is totally lost in its slovenly tactic.

Why should we listen to someone so selfish? Who ever entitled anyone to think that others exist merely to clean up his or her messes?

As a teacher, I took time to lecture those students who saw nothing wrong with throwing their trash in their desks or on the floor. When I made students return to pick up and discard their own trash, they often complained, “But that’s the janitor’s job.” No it isn’t. Just the usual wear and tear on any facility keeps every janitor busy without having to clean up deliberately strewn garbage. The same principle applies to our streets.

Years ago, I witnessed just punishment meted out to a litterer in Jesup. I had come to a complete stop at the intersection of Palm and Younce Streets. Also, slowing to a stop directly across from me was a young woman who chose that moment to toss her breakfast trash from a nearby fast food restaurant into the street. She had failed to notice that a policeman had pulled up directly behind her. Immediately, he turned on his lights and siren and exited his vehicle. With the first sound of the siren, I did not move from my vantage point. He invited the woman out to gather her trash. Once she was back in her car, he issued her a ticket.

When he turned off his lights and siren, I traveled on my way. However, for as long as I could see the two cars through my rear view mirror, he continued to follow her. What’s the fine these days for littering?

Of course, we’d like to see all litterbugs brought to justice. However, a little patriotism, a little show of pride in our country, would be even better. Disposing of one’s trash properly is such a simple act, but in its simplicity, it speaks volumes about us as individuals and as Americans. Carry a litter bag in each vehicle.

As Ms. Bates says, true patriots dream of gleaming cities, towns and roadsides.

O beautiful for patriot dream/ That sees beyond the years/ Thine alabaster cities gleam/ Undimmed by human tears! America! America! / God shed his grace on thee / And crown thy good with brotherhood/ From sea to shining sea!

On this Independence Day, let us show our respect for the God given beauty of America by keeping it clean, free of manmade garbage, carelessly tossed without consideration for anyone else. Our patriotic volunteers can then limit their service to cleaning up debris from natural disasters. And with today’s weather patterns, there’s enough storm damage to keep them all busy.

2012