Inspired by garbage

Earlier this week, on my way home, I noticed some police-like figures surrounding a homeless tent a few streets away from our house. The homeless people in our neighborhood are usually not troublesome; they’re often Latino families who simply can’t afford the rent in San Francisco.

They are generally respectful, playing Latino music quietly in their tents, and peacefully coexisting with the rest of the community.

When I saw those police-like people around the tent, I wanted to ask what was happening, but fear held me back — they looked intimidating. Several trucks were parked nearby with “homeless shelter…” labels, so it seemed like a social welfare operation, but those people didn’t seem friendly. The homeless people were packing up their belongings.

I wondered where those police-like people were pushing them to.

Gathering my courage, I approached one of the workers dressed entirely in white, like a COVID-19 protection suit. I asked, “What’s going on?”

He turned to me and scoffed, “Clean up.”

“Excuse me?”

“CLEAN UP,” he repeated as if I was deaf.

I pressed further, “What do you mean by that?”

He dismissively replied, “Cleaning up the garbage,” and turned away.

I didn’t respond, but I could feel anger rising inside me.

A few days later, while waiting for a bus, I saw a man picking up garbage on the street. I said, “Wow, that’s really kind of you.”

He took off his sunglasses and replied, “Well… I just cleaned these two blocks, and you know, if you do it every day, it’s not that bad.”

“When did you start?” I asked.

“During COVID. Things were really bad. I got tired of being angry, so I’m making changes.” His eyes shined with kindness.

“I got tired of being angry, so I’m making changes.”

Both of the life incidents is about people’s views on garbage, but one made me fueled with anger about injustice, and the other taught me how to turn the anger into something constructive.

So I told myself, “I’m done with being angry — it’s time to make a change.” What is one small thing that I can do?

(I was thinking of putting oranges in their tent, but I don’t know where they are now.)