Help Curb the Litter Problem

Thursday I sat down to pay my bills. Inside my bill from the City of Fresno Utilities Department was a little flier stating "Join Mayor Alan Autry in curbing the litter problem in Fresno." It went on to explain why and how you shouldn't litter. I'm not sure that a notice like this is going to prevent a litterbug (Is that a word you're only supposed to use as a kid? I don't know.) from littering. (Litterbug's unlikely thoughts: That was a delicious hamburger. Well, I'll just throw the wrapper down here... Wait a minute! Mayor Autry said to put stuff like this into a garbage can. I'll put this into one of those conveniently located trash containers!) But that's not really my point here. What I was thinking as I read this notice was how just the day before I was taking a walk in my neighborhood and there was garbage all over the streets and sidewalks. I live in a neighborhood that is normally very clean. So why all the trash? Because it was trash day. You know, the day when the city sends their trucks to pick up each can sitting at the curb and turn it upside down emptying most of its contents into the truck. Every house has litter in front of it by noon on Wednesdays. And the people I pay to do this for me are asking me to keep the place clean! I was a little irked by this (as you might be able to tell) so I wrote a letter to the mayor (and cc'd the Solid Waste Division) asking for his help to "curb the litter problem in Fresno."