Resourceful Kids or Irresponsible Parents?
Maybe a little of both. Today is both trash day and recycle day*, so I put the bins out with the garbage can this morning.
On last night's NBC Nightly News, there was an entire story about (roughly paraphrasing here)childhood obesity. They talked about how kids under 9 just naturally want to play, and play outside. The number of hours of physical activity they get was really high. But basically, after age 9, the numbers start dropping dramatically. As I recall, the numbers dropped from hours per week to minutes per week, really quickly, and kept dropping rapidly after that. Basically, once you hit age 9, you become an XBox-playing, computer-using couch potato.
So it's this morning before 8:00, and it's a beautiful summer day. I hear what can only be described as rummaging in our recyle bin, followed by the unmistakable sound of pop cans being crushed by stomping :)
I sneak over to the window in the loft, a great vantage point from which to watch two enterprising boys digging delightedly through our recycle bin with a bounty of Diet Pepsi Lime and Cherry cans. They are first of all impressed that we crush our cans already (the stomping is just for fun and to ensure ultra-flatness), and second excited at how many! Their excited comments totally charmed me :) But alas, trouble shortly sets in. There are TOO many! Their bag is full! The older brother instructs the younger brother to stuff them in his pockets, while he is still shoving as many as possible into the bag, which is now overflowing right back into the bin. It's like watching a comedy show, where clowns try to stuff something into something that's already full.
It made me think of something my own brothers would have done (a gazillion years ago) to make money. Oddly though, today, it seems fraught with danger. Those cans all have rough and sharp edges from being squished. Those boys could have been cut a million times. It's also gross to think of going through someone else's recycle bin. And then when I told Unk about it, he reminded me that a bottle broke in the bin earlier in the week. He was pretty much convinced that they cut themselves on the glass.
So which is it?
Impressive? A couple of boys up before 8 on a summer day, collecting cans to make money?
Or
WHERE ARE THE PARENTS? The kids did have bike helmets on (!), but no gloves or anything to protect their hands, and they were, after all, digging through my trash.
And also, although the trash/bins were at the end of the driveway, they were still on our property. It's a little odd to see someone going through your trash while it's still in front of your house ...
*In Chicago, recycle day was every week, with the trash. Here in Colorado, trash pickup is every week, but recycle is every other.
On last night's NBC Nightly News, there was an entire story about (roughly paraphrasing here)childhood obesity. They talked about how kids under 9 just naturally want to play, and play outside. The number of hours of physical activity they get was really high. But basically, after age 9, the numbers start dropping dramatically. As I recall, the numbers dropped from hours per week to minutes per week, really quickly, and kept dropping rapidly after that. Basically, once you hit age 9, you become an XBox-playing, computer-using couch potato.
So it's this morning before 8:00, and it's a beautiful summer day. I hear what can only be described as rummaging in our recyle bin, followed by the unmistakable sound of pop cans being crushed by stomping :)
I sneak over to the window in the loft, a great vantage point from which to watch two enterprising boys digging delightedly through our recycle bin with a bounty of Diet Pepsi Lime and Cherry cans. They are first of all impressed that we crush our cans already (the stomping is just for fun and to ensure ultra-flatness), and second excited at how many! Their excited comments totally charmed me :) But alas, trouble shortly sets in. There are TOO many! Their bag is full! The older brother instructs the younger brother to stuff them in his pockets, while he is still shoving as many as possible into the bag, which is now overflowing right back into the bin. It's like watching a comedy show, where clowns try to stuff something into something that's already full.
It made me think of something my own brothers would have done (a gazillion years ago) to make money. Oddly though, today, it seems fraught with danger. Those cans all have rough and sharp edges from being squished. Those boys could have been cut a million times. It's also gross to think of going through someone else's recycle bin. And then when I told Unk about it, he reminded me that a bottle broke in the bin earlier in the week. He was pretty much convinced that they cut themselves on the glass.
So which is it?
Impressive? A couple of boys up before 8 on a summer day, collecting cans to make money?
Or
WHERE ARE THE PARENTS? The kids did have bike helmets on (!), but no gloves or anything to protect their hands, and they were, after all, digging through my trash.
And also, although the trash/bins were at the end of the driveway, they were still on our property. It's a little odd to see someone going through your trash while it's still in front of your house ...
*In Chicago, recycle day was every week, with the trash. Here in Colorado, trash pickup is every week, but recycle is every other.