Morning Walk

Each morning I walk from King Street Station through Pioneer Square to our new offices located just off 1st and Columbia in downtown Seattle. The walk through Pioneer Square is usually quite interesting. There are several shelters and churches that help the homeless and the lines start to form for these services by the time I’m walking through just after 8 am. It’s not uncommon to see people jogging through the area along with a number of people out for a morning stroll.

This morning as I was just a few blocks from our office, I noticed an elderly couple coming towards me. The man was using one arm to balance himself with a cane while his other arm was clinging to his partner. They were moving very slowly down the street. As I was getting closer I noticed they would stop every few steps and pickup paper. As I neared I saw the lady was holding a clear plastic bag full of cans and paper. They appeared to be going around the block picking up trash on the sidewalks.

I thought of the kids who seem to do much of the littering and wondered if they would change their behavior if they could see this older couple picking up after them. Kudos to this couple for making a difference. I’m going to make an effort to pickup trash when I see it next time instead of walk by and assume it’s someone else’s job.