British letters to the editor, invoking gum, among other things
Chewing gum on a phone box, originally uploaded by Robin McMorran.
At 5.24 this evening, J Dennis set pen (fingers) to paper (phosphor) and dropped a note to the Harlow edition of The Herald, suggesting that he agreed with American author Bill Bryson’s contention that Britain was “looking more and more like a rubbish tip.”
Dennis specifies his concerns — including the culprit that has galvanized British governmental and civic agencies, chewing gum — in his letter, which included the following concerns.
This country has suddenly become a mess.
There’s chewing gum all over the pavements, crisp packets and drinks cans strewn in hedgerows next to motorways and cigarette ends are everywhere.
It seems once the Keep Britain Tidy campaign was shelved, it left the country to fall into slobbish habits, not caring one bit about living in our own filth and completely disregarding nature.
All too often people chuck their rubbish out of car windows and onto the floor when they leave a shop - despite a litter bin being two steps away from them.
Being a litter lout seems to have suddenly become “cool”.
(Incidentally, this wonderful shot of a gum besotted phone booth by Robin McMorran is not from Harlow, but rather from Chester, some 201.6 miles away, but it does suggest, one supposes, that there is not only gum on the pavement — a problem in and of itself — but also on the roofs of phone boxes, which may perhaps inspire further letter writing.)