Why do I need to pick up after myself?

It's certainly a messy job in a theater, a baseball stadium, football arena, or perhaps even in your own house. I spent an hour debating this very question with a couple of friends of mine last night. I was a little more than shocked at the response. My belief is that we clean up after ourselves whether it be in a theater, stadium, or grandma's house. My kids pick up their toys, their jammies, and pretty much anything else they may be leaving behind. We teach them to clean what's left of their dirty plate into the diposal, rinse it off, and place it in the dish washer. We are doing our best we can as parents to teach them about responsibility, so I am a little more than surprised to have a discussion with an adult who neglects to pick up their own popcorn bin and soda cups at the theater simply because, "No one else picks up their stuff". According to the discussion it has become culturally acceptable to leave your own mess behind at places like a movie theater or a sports arena, because everybody does it or the garbage bins are so far away that it becomes a hassle.

I believe we can actually rise above what culture expects of us as Christians, let alone as human beings. If culture says it's ok to sleep with a person of the same sex and/ jump off a building...I believe I can rise to a standard that says I will remain faithful to my spouse (who is by the way of the opposite sex) and can coem to the conclusion that whatever the problem is, it si not worth throwing myself off the top of a building and causing even more hurt and anguish.

I will sometimes fail because I am not perfect or righteous, but I do my best to follow the golden rule set forth by my faith which is to, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." These are difficult words to live by, but on something as simple as picking up after myself, and teaching my kids to do the same, I would much rather fall on this side of grace, setting an example, and showing a little kindness to the person with the broom and dustpan. I recall working at Sam's Club trying to put myself through college, gathering carts in the parking lot. I wish I could express in mere words the joy I experienced when someone actually took care of their own cart vs. the anger I felt when they would leave it in th emiddle of nowhere and I would get blamed for not doing my job properly...as if it were my job to pick up after them. That's ludicrous. If those customers tooko care of their own carts, it's not that I would have lost my job, that in itself was not my job, but rather an added bonus, cleaning up after people who did not care to do it themselves.

Below is a poll regarding the formentioned topic and we will be discussing this on an upcoming podcast at our website. We could use your opinion on this and we appreciate your time!