i watched someone litter
On my walk home from the grocery store today, I saw a man take a swig from one of those little plastic liquor bottles, and promptly throw it in to the bushes. There was literally a garbage can three steps away.
What the fuck, man?
Littering is the least of San Francisco’s concerns these days, but nevertheless it makes my heart sad to see it. For a heartbeat and a half, I considered saying something to the man. But quickly decided against it. What would I even say? Even if I started with a joke, something casual and unrelated, I can’t imagine how I could make this complete stranger feel any remorse for littering. Especially because this complete stranger was also drinking on the street.
Anyways. I’ve thought a lot about city living vs country living and what would make me happier. There’s so much I love about cities!! But it’s also hard to build a sense of community with so much inherent anonymity. It’s certainly not impossible. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.
The thing about encouraging good behavior is that you need the right incentives at the individual level. Take this man who littered. Consider his choices. A) Look for a place to dispose of his garbage. B) Throw his garbage in the bushes. C) Think more to come up with other options. I don’t know this man’s story, but I doubt he has much incentive for option A and option C.
People who litter don’t have respect for their surroundings. And often, this lack of respect comes from a lack of social incentives. Consider this. Would you be more likely to litter in front of a stranger or in front of your grandmother? I expect that if this man finished his drink in a friend's backyard, his behavior would have been different. He has a relationship with that friend, and different incentives.
Board games yesterday went great! With about a dozen people, it was quite different than the usual group of 3-5 I play with. Much of the time was unstructured socializing, but when we did play games, they included Wavelength, Wits & Wagers, and Deep Sea Adventure (with a smaller group).
We also played Fishbowl, which isn’t really a board game, but still a great party game nonetheless. After the standard three rounds, we did a bonus round of pictionary, cleverly implemented with an iPad connected to the television. Towards the end it felt like teams were systematically yelling out all the past clues instead of actually guessing what the person was drawing. But with the incentives of the game, it wasn’t a bad strategy.
If only I could change the incentives of littering in San Fransisco.
Sincerely,
Sam,
Contemplator of Incentives
Author's note to self: this is MSoC #2