Pet peeves

#1.

I do not care for the advertising boards which spring up in our neighborhoods. (see photo’s). I see them as yet more urban pollution. So I pluck them out of the ground whenever possible.

#2. 

The incessant noise of leaf blowers is another form of pollution, this time not visual but auditory.

I suggest that the Great Litany of the Anglican Churches should include this:

“From the whining of leaf-blowers: Good Lord deliver us”

I pray this especially for the neighbour who uses a leaf blower at 6:00 a.m. whether or not there are leaves to be blown.

#3.

I get a wee bit ancy when, as I pay for my goods, the clerk/cashier at a supermarket or pet-store asks me if I would care to give a dollar for this, that or the other charity.

I despise this for three reasons.

First, I think that my charitable giving should be planned, not impulsive.

Second, I believe that that giving should be sacrificial. Any fool can give a dollar. Wise people give generously. They sacrifice other pleasures for the sake of trying to do good.

Third, I have never heard from any market about the amount which was raised, or the specific charities to whom the money was given. Wise givers are those who know the mission of their favourite non-profits/charities, and can read sound fiscal reportage of their giving.