The garbage truck runs on Friday mornings at my house. Sometimes early on Fridays, like while I am still in the shower early. Anyway, when I drive in to work, I usually pass by the truck as it goes down my street. Sometimes there will be a trail of liquid going down the road, thicker at each stop of the truck as it drips out from some one’s garbage.
Last Friday morning, I didn’t even think about the long trail of toxicity as I passed by the garbage truck. At lunch, I drove out to meet some friends, which is unusual, and I noticed that my tires looked like that had mud on them. That’s was odd, as I hadn’t recalled being off-road. Later Monday night, as I was leaving work, I approached my truck from the front and noticed that my front tire had a big paint spot on the tread. Hm. I wondered where that had happened. I thought maybe, when I was at the recycling center after lunch, I drove in a little bit of paint on the road. Since it was light brown, I still had not realized that the ‘mud’ on the side on my truck was not mud at all.
Nope, it was not until I drove up my street and noticed the long 1/2 mile trail of light brown tires marks in the lane coming the opposite direction. That wasn’t just water dripping from the garbage truck. It was a toxic, staining, damaging mixture, left for those who followed to step right in.
That’s right. Paint! nice light brown mud-looking paint, splattered all over my wheel wells and down the side of my truck.
Yuck.
Another day is in store for me cleaning up someone’s mess they left to splatter all over me!
Poor truck! And sometimes poor us!
When you leave people how do they feel? Do they feel like they just ran through the stuff that leaked off the garbage truck? Or do they feel uplifted and refreshed.
Don’t drip toxins – but instead, as Micheal from the Handwritten says,
Drip Jesus.
29When you talk, do not say harmful things, but say what people need—words that will help others become stronger. Then what you say will do good to those who listen to you. Ephesians 4:29 New Century Version (NCV)
