I have always had a thing about
people freely pitching their rubbish with reckless abandon wherever they wish. Unfortunately
this happens fairly regularly in Greece and it greatly gets my goat!
I distinctly remember, as a new-arrival in Thessaloniki,
making my way to work one morning along the gob-glistening pavement, and seeing
a young woman walking in front of me drop her empty cigarette pack on the road
as she took her first deep draw of the day. Picking it up, I tapped her on the arm
and, in accusing tones, told her I believed that was hers. Now even a
non-linguist will understand the implicature here: It’s yours, take it and put
it in a bin. Looking surprised, she shrugged her shoulders and replied she didn’t
want it. As I stood there, holding her refuse, watching her blithely continue on her way,
I realised the lesson learned was mine – not hers! Didn’t try that tactic again.
On my regular trips to the spa I walk a short
distance from the bus station and here are shots of some of the detritus sighted
en route. As ever, things that get me
hot under the collar, tend to have me resort to poetry, so here goes:
A Rhyme to Rubbish
Greece has a natural beauty
But its people don’t take care
And of the situation here
I really do despair
Wherever you look, wherever you
glance
It’s a garbage gala, a rubbish
fair
Like Billie
Holliday’s tree
Some bushes strange fruit can bear
And while we’re on the subject
There’s more that’s hard to tell
In the country-side our canine friends
Are often discarded as
well
With its azure skies and cobalt seas
This could be the Land of Romance
So
for Petros’ sake safely stash
your trash
Give Mother Nature, Lady Gaia, a chance.
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