#planter #cleaning #city #bus #stop #Myphoto
These are photographs from my story 'The Last Bus Ogden.' I live in a building next door to this Downtown, Salt Lake City planter. It was in front of a bus stop where I took buses, and also where a bus took me from Research Park where I worked, to this stop, right by my home. Many people waited for buses, and sat on the edge of the planter. It had been totally trashed. A horrible mess, neglected and abandoned by the property owners. I was disgusted to see it every day. I had called the property owners and asked that they clean it up. I learned that a water pipe in the planter no longer worked. I waited for them to clean it up. They never did. Cigarette butts were thrown in the planter - the planter would catch on fire from all the garbage. The Fire Department would arrive and put out the fires.
So, because I couldn't ignore the sight right in front to my eyes, I adopted the planter and cleaned it up myself. It took weeks. I worked on it after I got off from my job, at night, and on weekends. I wore gloves and a mask. I scrubbed the dirty concrete the best I could, and I also scrubbed off years of graffiti. The side walk in front of the planter was also a mess. I called the City about cleaning it up and they told me it was the responsibility of the property owners by the sidewalk. Well. I already knew nobody was going to be doing that. I cleaned the sidewalk myself. Because there wasn't any water to clean anything, I hauled water in a bucket back and forth from my apartment next door.
Of course people continued to throw their garbage in the planter, and I continued to clean up after them. That's just the way some people are. There could be a trash receptacle right in front of them, but they are too lazy to use it. The graffiti also continued, and I continued to scrub it off.
