David Sedaris: Write First then Collect Rubbish

David Sedaris’s face  was sweating a bit. In his left hand, you can see a white canvas shopping bag in which he threw some rubbish he found along the way. He complained,”It drives me crazy…” He took a stroll again and found more rubbish. This time, the rubbish was more than the bag could hold. He gave up collecting these cans, and walked again.

I know why Sedaris does such a thing on a daily basis because he CANNOT take it anymore. “Why people keep spoling the superb nature??!”I might scream on behalf of the American author.

“It’s so beautiful here (around his neighborhood in England) but look….! Look over there. People throw rubbish everywhere,”he approached it and took some with his bare right hand.

He doesn’t understand why people throw rubbish and hence the rubbish collection.

He admitted he can collect more if he walks from where he stands and the hill top before him. This peculiar activity has been part of his daily routine since he moved to the neighborhood.

Upon watching the interview, I just realized that Indonesia is not the only place where rubbish is a major problem. In a developed world, it’s been one since forever and as an anglophilic person, I can’t believe it. Simply can’t. How on earth do these first world nations fail to address the issue we in the third world ones are facing? Now, I know they’re not even any better in terms of rubbish management attitude. Yes, in cities and towns, there’s remote chance to find rubbish at public places but in the nature, humans are still humans regardless of their races, citizenship, welfare, and so on. They tend to think that rubbish can get rid of itself over time, so it’s ok to throw it away anytime anywhere they wish.

Sedaris added,”I write in the morning and I go out and pick up rubbish.” He keeps doing that despite the fact that some people think the author is obviously nuts. Well, that’s what I always thought when I started to move and live in Jakarta. I always wanted to pick the rubbish I see and find along my path but I think I’m simply too afraid of being called “eccentric”. I know it doesn’t violate the rule or norm but that’s unusually kind to environment and the super ignorant majority and that’s considered strange by laymen.

Sedaris is greatly eccentric and geez, that is sexy! I meant, intellectually sexy.