My Adopt-a-Highway Volunteer experience today

[Zomby Woof]

My employer just recently 'adopted' a 2 mile stretch of interstate highway, and I was part of the first team of 11 volunteers to help clean up piggy people's CRAP this morning.

We did both the shoulders, eastbound and westbound (separate stretches) from the road to a fence, so lots of ground to cover in many places, and the median as well.

It was quite obvious NO ONE, not even our state highway department, had cleaned up in a long long time.

We started around 8:30AM, and worked for about 3 hours, getting about 90% done before running out of bags, and energy.

We were instructed not to handle hazardous materials, urine bottles, or unidentifiable objects.

Here are some of the things our various team members found:

A wedding dress (some honeymoon!)
A 1973 license plate, with the year embossed, but the paint long gone (my big find, haha)
Elk horns, and when an attempt was made to lift them, well, you don't want to know... (luckily this was not me)
Too many beer cans (polluters have lousy taste)
Too many cola cans
Too may styrofoam coffee cups
Emptied oil containers, brake fluid containers, and ironically, car deodorizer cans
Baby shoes


Much much more... and much of this was not readily apparent when driving by at 75mph...


Folks, it is my learned opinion that only ignorant selfish shitholes could be so stupid and lazy as to fuck up our landscape with this much SHIT. A couple of us noticed a truck driver in his big rig honking at us and tossing his piss bottle out the window WHILE WE WERE PICKING UP THE GARBAGE. Luckily, the state highway people will get those when they pick up the 50+ bags we left for them, per the guidelines.

And you know... I don't look so bad in a day-glo orange vest. ;-)

It was hard work, slogging 3 miles (2 miles on one shoulder and half the median for each team), but worth it just to clean up one little slice of what is really some nice countryside.

Here's to all the volunteers on DU, no matter what you choose to do. :toast:

[matcom]

1. Good on you Bro!

ain't the human race the DUMBEST of all the fucked up animals on this planet? x(

Good on you though :thumbsup:

[Zomby Woof]

4. you said it brother!

It sure was an eye-opener to realize how truly polluted even the smallest stretches of land are... I think traffic violators (drunk drivers and the like) should be REQUIRED to do this kind of clean-up on a TWENTY MILE stretch, BOTH ways, like we did. :bounce:

[miss_kitty]

49. and people caught throwing piss bottles should have to pick them up

in a long stretch. sentence them to special training for picking it up and let them follow the volunteer groups on piss pick-up. they deserve no less.

i think the piggiest people are here in the US. it comes from that 'entitlement' and 'not my problem now, someone else's' RUDE, thoughtless, no manners, load of crap attitude people are stomping around with-mostly in this country. they claim great pride in being Americans, then treat the place like a shit hole.

[Lady Effingbroke]

50. No doubt!

I was behind an ignorant dickhead on the freeway last week who started throwing empty beer bottles out his window at 80+ mph. Some bottles immediately shattered upon impact with the road, while others BOUNCED (I didn't know a rather fragile glass object such as a beer bottle could bounce) across the lanes of traffic, causing drivers to swerve dangerously to avoid being hit with the bottles. A couple of bottles bounced all the way across the freeway and into the lanes of the feeder road, causing more drivers to have to swerve/slam on their brakes. I thought about getting dickhead's license number, but didn't because a) It would have been even more dangerous to try and do so since he was also driving like an idiot, randomly changing lanes; b) I couldn't have caught him even if I tried because he was driving a Camaro, and my 11-year-old Toyota truck couldn't keep up the maniacidal pace he was setting; and c) the police probably wouldn't have done anything about it, even if I had reported him - and I hate the 'snitch culture' that America is becoming. :grr:

On a brighter note, good for you, ZombyWoof, for volunteering to clean up after piggy assholes like the one I just ranted about. :thumbsup: O8)

[readmylips]

2. Little bush canceled the Beautification Program....

that was in place and as a tribute to Lady Bird Johnson. All our highways, as I travel throughout the US,look like crap. The most beautiful highways are Phoenix highways. The state spends a lot of money beautifying the highways....the Native American graphics are out of this world..just beautiful.

[Lucky Luciano]

3. I was wondering what happened to those Elk Horns!

Now I know where they are...it was that one drunk night that my friends and I were throwing keystone beer cans out the window for entertainment and then my one friend threw a bottle full of piss out the window...followed by the elk horns. You can keep everything but the elk horns - I want those back!

[Zomby Woof]

5. there were LOTS of Keystone cans

Keystone Light, Bud Light, Coors Light, and other foul brew cans...


Now you have me suspcious. ;-)

[Jokinomx]

6. Thank you for taking the time to do your part...:-)

Do you have a bottle deposit requirement in your state? Michigan adopted one decades ago and has done wonders in keeping trash off the roads. The only containers you find now are water bottles and Gatorade bottles.... the loop hole (some are trying to close it) is that the law is for carbonated beverages.

Anyway.. I have been working part time for the city I live in. I empty all the trash barrels in the city on Monday mornings. The surprising thing is, as much trash that is found on the ground in the parks I tidy up... which is substantial.. I fill a huge dump truck once a week with garbage that is IN the barrels. It really opened my eyes to see that 99% of the actual trash is put in the barrels.

So don't despair.. if your stretch hadn't been clean for years... now that you have it in good shape.. You and your team will have a much easier time.

Again... I salute you and all your fellow employees...:toast:

[liberalmuse]

7. You rock!

That was a very good thing you did today. :)

Humans really do suck. I mean, even animals don't even do crappy beer, according to that one bear story out of Medford a few weeks back, nor do they crap in their own environment unless they're crazed with rabies or locked up in a tiny cage or something. I think everyone should do a couple of hours of enviromental clean-up every week.

[Catshrink]

8. Thank you for beautifying our state....

ZombyWoof :yourock:

[NMDemDist2]

14. good for you ZW (ps cat are we meeting for the movie?) n/t

[Zomby Woof]

28. aw shucks

;-)

[MrScorpio]

9. What?!? No dead bodies locked in suitcases?

Boredom City, Zom

[fudge stripe cookays]

10. Yay!

Litterers really bug me.

We helped clean up the banks of the Mississippi when I went to Iowa with Dean's Texas Rangers in September. Made me feel good. But some of the stuff we found was disgusting! (Used baby diapers, cigarette butts, beer cans, tons of condoms...yuck!)

FSC

[Zomby Woof]

19. I dreaded seeing some of those things

But alas, no condoms or used diapers. :o

Good work, FSC!

[GOPisEvil]

11. I cannot stand a litterer...selfish pricks!

Some ignorant fuckface trucker threw his urine bottle at your group? What the fuck? Some people suck.

[Zomby Woof]

22. he tossed it away from where we were

But a prick nonetheless. Our company president noticed it!

[SarahB]

12. It's wonderful you did this!

DUers are awesome! So many people here have been able to restore at least some of my faith in humanity.
:yourock:

[Zomby Woof]

27. Thanks Sarah!

At the time I was restoring your faith, the garbage nearly made me lose mine. ;-)

It all balances out. Nature's equilibrium somehow will be restored. :hi:

[Obamarama]

13. Cool! Thanks! You gotta tell us 'bout the elk horns though....

Cmon...tell us!

[Zomby Woof]

20. They were difficult to pull up

Take it from there. :-)

[curse10]

15. I hate litterers!!!

I've never thrown anything out of my car window!

It's digusting and shows horrible upbringing!

[Zomby Woof]

21. yeah!

And damn those kitties are cute! :D

[trof]

16. Feels good, doesn't it?

Get any honks and thumbs up?
I do.
We have a two mile road through farm land and woods leading into our subdivision.
I've adopted it. It's MINE!
When it starts to get noticeable, I go out and "police it up".
Mostly fast food stuff from the guys building houses out here.
I think that they think we're all a bunch of rich folks (some are, but not all, including yours truly) and they get a kick out of dumping on us.
whatever

Good on ya.
:thumbsup:

[Zomby Woof]

23. Honks and waves

Our Adopt sign isn't up yet, so I wondered if most people thought we were from the local jail. ;-)

[antigone382]

17. Great job, ZombyWoof!

A NON-Keystone toast to you, your team, and all those who take the time to clean up nasty people's messes:

:toast:

[Zomby Woof]

24. Thanks Antigone!

:hi:

[blondeatlast]

18. If it was anywhere along I-40 towards the Canyon, I know

the kind of detritus you saw.

Ugh.

[Zomby Woof]

25. You are correct!

A few miles east of Williams. :-)

[Philostopher]

26. And here's one to you, Zomby.

I scoop cat poop for my community service effort (at a stray-rehoming shelter). And I get the same attitude doing highway adoption may well give you -- how dare people treat their (environment, health, pets, families) this way? -- but at the same time, it's the right thing to do, however much it feels like 'one step up and two steps back.'

And I admit -- as much cat shit as I handle on an annual basis, doing kenneling on Monday nights each week, I wouldn't trade a year of cat shit for one experience with a dead elk. Maybe not even a year and a half.

[Zomby Woof]

30. It is rewarding

It helps to remember that people who treat our planet this way are in the minority, and perhaps much is carelessness (the wedding dress had its dry cleaning tag, and perhaps the person who lost it is heartsick, who knows?) as much as some is selfishness and indifference.

Working alongside others who give a damn helps.

As for the elk, that was someone else working the other direction, and I missed that entirely, thank goodness.

I commend you for your shelter work. I grumble cleaning just my one cat's toxic litter box, but you have a handful. :toast:

[Soft Georgia]

29. Well done.

Urine bottles? I understand the need for long-haul drivers to have such things, but why throw them out the window? What's wrong with waiting til you get to a rest stop to dump them in the toilet and throw them away? What a bunch of f---ing pigs.

Good for you.

[Zomby Woof]

31. my thoughts exactly

It won't smell with a sealed bottle. Just self-centered Bush-lovers or something. ;-)

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[Soft Georgia]

32. Thank you, ZombyWoof.

How did you arrive at your name (may I ask?)?

[Zomby Woof]

38. of course you may ask!

It is the name of a Frank Zappa composition from 1973... I chose it mainly because of the lyric "Tellin' you all the Zomby Troof", for I pride myself on being brutally honest, about politics and life, lol. Veteran DUers (and our poor mods and admins) know that it yields various results, good and bad. ;-)

Also, I was proven correct that "Zomby" would be an easily identifiable and memorable moniker. The downside is because of the popularity of Zappa, many other ZombyWoofs exist on the internet, but DU is still the only site I post on, under any name. Don't be fooled by imitations! :D

Here are the lyrics:

Three hundred years ago
I thought I might get some sleep
I stretched myself out onna antique bed
An' my spirit did a midnite creep

You know I'll never sleep no more

It seems to me that it just ain't wise

Didja ever wake up in the mornin'
With a ZOMBY WOOF behind your eyes

Just about as evil as you could be

I am the ZOMBY WOOF
I'm that creature all the ladies been
Talkin' about

I am the ZOMBY WOOF
They all seek for shelter when I come chargin' out

Tellin' you all the Zomby troof
Here I'm is, the ZOMBY WOOF

Tellin' you all the Zomby troof
Here I'm is . . .

Reety-awrighty, he da ZOMBY WOOF
Reety-awrighty, he da ZOMBY WOOF

They said aw-reety
An' they was aw-righty
An' I was a Zomby for you, little lady . . .

I got a great big pointed fang
Which is my Zomby Toof
My right foot's bigger than my other one is
Like a reg'lar Zomby Hoof
If I raid your dormitorium
Don't try to remain aloof . . .

I might snatch you up screamin' through the window all nekkid
An' do it to you on the roof, don't mess with the
ZOMBY WOOF

I am about as evil as a Boogie Man can be!

Tellin' you all the Zomby Troof
Here I'm is, the ZOMBY WOOF

Tellin' you all the Zomby Troof
Here I'm is, the ZOMBY WOOF

[Soft Georgia]

42. Thanks.

Guess you can tell I was never a Zappa fan. ;)

[Zomby Woof]

44. well, nobody's perfect!

;-) :hi:

[Maddy McCall]

33. ZW, I have done this before, too...

Several years in a row. I-55 in Mississippi. We found condoms, female hygiene products, and dirty baby diapers--the three items I told our team leader that I would NOT touch.

We picked up several tons of garbage in the four miles we worked. People ARE pigs.

[Zomby Woof]

34. Hey Jill!

We are lucky in that our state highway department will take care of the urine bottles and anything else severely unhygienic, so if we did run across the 3 things you mentioned, we would have been off the hook too. Wasn't like there was a shortage of anything else. :-)

Feeling better? I sure hope so.

And it looks like you will get possibly some peripheral action from Ivan, so please stay safe. :hi:

[Maddy McCall]

35. Ha! Guess who I worked for when I was picking up garbage?

LOL! One day a year, all DOT employees picked up garbage on the interstate. :-)

I wasn't on the road crew--I was an office stiff--but we still got the pleasure of picking up some nasty shit. :-)

[Maddy McCall]

37. Oh, and yes, feeling much better...

the hurricane thing has me worried...Cat5, 165MPH! I feel sorry for whichever area gets hit. That's one hell of a storm.

[Zomby Woof]

39. you and Casey better sharpen your game skills!

And zap that sonofabitch. :-)

[EstimatedProphet]

36. Good for you Zomby!

I do a lot of stream cleanups, and it is amazing sometimes what shows up:
A full bottle of wine
cellphones
a full set of encyclopedias, wrapped in plastic so they don't get wet
handguns (a lot of them)

[Zomby Woof]

40. amazing!

And yet our GOP buddies (ha!) say the environment is just fine! :eyes:

Stay safe from Ivan!

[mopinko]

41. proves my suspicions about neat people

i never litter, i just let trash pile up in my car, until it gets bad, or i have some reason to clean the car. it's those tidy people who throw shit out the window. i see them all the time- shiny, fancy nice car, tossing the micky d's bag onto the street. hypocrisy.
thanks for doing your part.

[KT2000]

43. Please read ZombyWoof

I don't know how it works in your state, but in Washington the transportation dept is lax about warning volunteers when they work on roadsides that have been sprayed with pesticides. Washington uses more than other states and they use powerful stuff that is not available to the public.

Before you go out again - please check when the last raodside spraying was done. If it was recent - don't go. If it was a while - be sure to wear clothes you can throw away and take your shoes off before entering the house.

Sometimes there is more pesticide inside the home because carpets are like shoe cleaners. Once the pesticide gets in the house it stays - because it needs sunlight and water to break down.

Thanks for your volunteering but do take precautions...please. Some of those pesticides (weaker versions of nerve gas) can do a lot of damage.

[Zomby Woof]

45. I appreciate that

To my knowledge, no spraying is done where I was, but I will look into it!

[blondeatlast]

46. A bridal gown? There's a story I need to

make up!

[PartyPooper]

47. I hope you wore gloves to protect yourself from germs!

And, I'll never understand those "piss bottles" people use and strew all over the place. I saw one in a parking lot recently. Disgusting!

Anyway, congrats for a job well done!

:toast:

[MisterP]

48. I volunteer with pelicans, mostly brown

people do terrible things to them, deliberately and accidentally