Today I went for a walk on my own, something I like to do and need to do every now and then. So off I went to Dovestones Reservoir on the edge of the Peak District. As you can see, the scenery even on a cloudy day is pretty impressive.
And then halfway round I saw this.
Do you ever get the feeling that you don't understand what motivates some people? I simply don't get why what was probably a family group goes off somewhere like this for a picnic and then spoils it for others by leaving their rubbish around like that. There were lots of juice bottles, a disposable barbecue, empty cider bottles and lager cans....
I walked on for a few yards, muttering under my breath about the sheer thoughtlessness of others. Then I stopped: I was challenged. Moaning about it wouldn't make the eyesore go away; however, I could make a difference.
Back I went to the pile. Some of the stuff was in carrier bags; I put some more of the rubbish into them. I didn't carry all of it away, because to be honest there was too much - but the five bags worth I did take helped to make it look somewhat better.
Then came another thought. The stuff had probably been there for the best part of a couple of days and in that time how many people had walked past it? Dovestones is a popular place. Dozens? A hundred? More? Most probably found the sight as deplorable as I did, so why did it seem that no-one (or at least the vast majority) had done more than shake their heads about it?
Reflecting on it now, what springs to mind (although it didn't at the time) is the parable of the Good Samaritan. Something obviously wrong, something causing others to shake their heads about the state of society - but no-one stopping to do anything about it.
Apathy reigns... but it doesn't have to.
(For a few more pictures of Dovestones, check out my Flickr account here!)
