When you leave a festival or other large event, chances are you don’t think about the people who have to pick up your trash. But that’s all about to change. One city gardener is fed up with litterbugs and he’s unleashed an explosive tirade you won’t soon forget.
Watch Mark Lujan’s video of San Francisco’s Dolores Park after the weekend’s Gay Pride events and you’ll find it hard to blame the guy. Seas of trash blanket the grass and trees, as gulls feast on the widespread debris.
“The solution is for people to just maybe start giving a f*** or two. But instead they choose to use this park like a f*** dumpster,” Lujan wrote in a since-deleted Facebook screed. “I have already picked up a statistically significant number of drug baggies and condoms. Usually also found near a pile of vomit.”
Lujan said some of the Pride attendees even peed on one of the park custodians while she was trying to clean the bathroom.
“I AM NOT A F******* TRASH MAN,” Lujan added.
San Francisco Recreation and Parks spokesperson Joey Kahn confirmed that Lujan is a gardener with the department. She wouldn’t comment on his posts, except to acknowledge that litter is a major problem at Dolores Park.
"It’s a frustrating recurring problem to have, especially for those who deal with it on a daily basis," Kahn said. "Monday alone, it took 13 Rec & Park employees a collective 86.5 hours to clean up Dolores Park. These are taxpayer dollars being spent on cleanup and resources that are being diverted away from other parks."
The city recently launched an outreach campaign called “Love Dolores” to encourage better stewardship. It has proved “useless,” Lujan said.
We feel you, man.
Read more about Lujan’s social media tirade here.
Image Credit: Flickr User khouri, https://flic.kr/p/9iQkr2 via (CC BY 2.0)