Old-fashioned values are out with the trash
-- Peeved
Dear Peeved: Why are you so concerned by being perceived as "old-fashioned"? Have you been successfully conned into believing that your own honest reactions are not acceptable?
Snap out of it! Own your feelings!
You could raise this issue at your next condo board meeting or on the complex's listserv (if it has one). You might find that other residents are experiencing the same annoyance, or you might smoke out a neighbor who is doing this.
Yes, this is annoying. Yes, you have every right to find it annoying, and to wish that people behaved differently.
You and your wife could approach this with a little humor and perhaps inspire people to be more respectful.
Tape a florescent sign onto the inside of the lid, so that someone opening it would see it:
"Hello, Fellow Humans.
Are you generating so much garbage that you need to use an extra can? That's a pity. Haven't you noticed that the planet is on fire?
We will accept your wasteful overflow, but please be courteous and put the lid securely down. (And leave a tin of home-baked still-warm brownies on top.)
...continued
