Crap

I stepped in dog poo this morning on the way to the bus stop. I'm sure in some cultures this is considered good luck, but it just annoyed the hell out of me. I mean, really people, is it that bloody hard to pick up your dogs' crap after they take a dump on the footpath? For those of you not familiar with Balmain, it's a very built up area - lots of people, and even more dogs, in a small space. And also a lot of young kids - even more reason for owners to clean up after their dogs - kids, like dogs, will eat anything! Seriously, it's not that hard to carry a plastic bag or two around with you, especially since Leichhardt council puts bag dispensers all over the place.

So, on the bus I got thinking - how do you try and get people to be a little bit more responsible, and a little bit more considerate of others? Well, for a start, I would have thought that if you let your dog crap everywhere, odds are eventually YOU are going to step in it, which is always disgusting. But this doesn't seem to be enough for many people. Obviously the fear of being busted and slapped with a $50 fine doesn't strike fear into the hearts of the locals, many of whom view $50 notes as cheap lunch coupons. So what to do? You can't really sealastic up the dogs arse - after all it's not really the poor mutts' fault their owners are fucktards. Perhaps make offenders go to the toilet in public without any toilet paper for a month? Humiliating, yes, but it certainly won't help keep the streets any cleaner.

What sort of penalty can society apply for anti-social, selfish behaviour that will be reasonably balanced across all? Fines clearly aren't the answer - too harsh on those struggling, while trivial to the wealthy. Then I started thinking what privilege does society bestow upon people that could be withdrawn for infringements, that would make people think twice? Perhaps the revoking of the Drivers licence for a month would be suitable - enough to make people think twice. Even if you can afford to catch taxis, the hassle involved would make you reconsider leaving that turd on the footpath.