Beach Scum

By: kathstack
Published On: 2/3/2008 9:54:05 PM

One of the great pleasures of my new house is the sunrise walk it allows me to take along the Chesapeake Bay beach almost every morning. Some days it is so beautiful it reminds me of those impossibly lush skyscapes in the Star Wars movies. One day last week I walked toward a sunrise splashed in every shade of red/pink/orange/purple--and when I turned around I was being followed by a double rainbow. Seagulls line the water's edge in single file--some mornings they look out at the water; on other days they're all lined up facing inland, as sandpipers scurry around in the tide.
It truly lifts the soul; it makes me feel blessed to live in such a beautiful place.
This morning someone (probably several someones) had emptied the beach trash cans, spreading garbage of every description across the sand, then rolled the cans out into the water. This obviously took a couple of people some time and some work--these are big, heavy cans. The seagulls were cruising around checking for edible scraps, and we morning walkers were moving more slowly than usual. We're mostly older, past the age of wading into freezing surf and wrestling out a heavy metal drum.
I can understand some crime--I have driven a car faster than I should a time or three, and I've felt the surge of rage that makes the idea of just swinging your fist as hard as you can a pretty attractive option. If you steal a CD or money, at least you have a CD or money.
But what did this gain anybody?
It's hard to think of a proper punishment too, in the unlikely event these vandals are caught. We're probably talking misdemeanor here, something paling in comparison to armed robbery, or assault, or murder. But at the same time, whoever did this affected a lot of people in a truly bad way. They took my blessing and spread garbage across its face.
Since we're relatively civilized and technologically limited as a community, we probably can't just vaporize them where they stand--so I'd favor some combination of community service and public humiliation.
Maybe we should bring back the stocks.  

Comments



Don't understand the trashing (VA Breeze - 2/4/2008 2:19:23 AM)
of beautiful Virginia and our country

Any security cameras around?



update (kathstack - 2/4/2008 11:33:53 AM)
no idea about cameras--actually i am anti-surveillance so hope not.
but the good news is, i went back for my walk this morning and a couple of the barrels had been fished out of the water and moved up beyond the tide line, and a lot of the garbage picked up. since yesterday was sunday, this was my neighbors pitching in, god love 'em. i joined the effort, and the beach is pretty well back to normal.
so there are more good folks around here than bad. as the motto of my former profession has it: illegitimi non carborendum.


I know some of the condo's in the area (VA Breeze - 2/4/2008 6:45:25 PM)
have security so thought they might have seen something

Glad to hear the beach is cleaner today- great day for a walk!



Punishment is easy (Eric - 2/4/2008 11:44:20 AM)
Given 'em each 500 hours of community service - specifically to pick up trash in public areas.  A punishment that exactly fits the crime.