Things You See On the Road

I took a long walk in a not-so-great neighborhood today. Erin's van ("Big Whitey" for the uninitiated) is getting ready to go out of warranty, so I took it down to get some minor repairs done during my lunch hour. It was only going to take an hour, so I thought I would dump it, find food, and return.

Unfortunately the dealership is in a somewhat downcast area in Indy (38th and Lafayette, if you're a local). If providing my location, it could have been triangulated by two strip clubs and a Hooters.

I knew I could find food close by, so I wasn't worried about having to walk too far, and frankly, I kind of miss all the walking I do in China, so I was sort of looking forward to it.

What I discovered in the couple of miles I walked is that humans leave a lot of weird crap strewn about. Here are just a few things I took notice of while walking.

1. There were several giant parking lots that were just surrounded by fencing and going unused. Based on the area, I suspect these were all car lots, and given the state of the economy and the ability of automakers to build cars with brakes that work, these lots are now vacant. It seems odd that there's nothing you can do with these giant spaces. Perhaps a break testing track could be built.

2. Gas station food wrappers. I've rarely seen anyone eat the hot dogs, corn dogs, burritos, and deli sandwiches available in gas stations, but on my walk, I saw wrappers for these very items everywhere.

3. Clothing. I saw an old pair of shoes in a new shoe box. Underpants. Lots of socks. Knit caps. More underpants. How do old clothes end up on urban streets? I doubt I want to know. And why do only men who wear tighty whities lose their underpants in the street? There were no nice boxers or women's underwear, only underwear that looked like it might have been worn by Abe Vigoda on Barney Miller.

4. Lots of plastic baggies. Again, this probably falls under the "I don't want to know" category, but I saw dozens of Ziploc bags with unidentifiable contents.

The urban junk you see in China is far different. Lots of food products -- orange rinds, apple cores...an occasional fish head. But not so much underpants. Very strange.