At least once a month, trash crews are out on Oklahoma City's freeways, especially Lake Hefner Parkway (the most scenic in the city because of the water), cleaning up bags full of trash. A lot of the litter includes stuff that disrespectful morons throw out the window- beer bottles, fast food cartons, cans. But have you noticed- lately- that there is more to our litter than hand-thrown trash? Ever wonder how it gets there? Yesterday morning, it seems that someone lost a garden hose on the southbound lanes of the Parkway between 63rd and 50th. It's still there as we speak, ripped to shreds from people running over it.

Last month, a roll of foam was in the middle of the Parkway, and a week before the foam was there, some phone books were scattered along the break down lane.

Several times, I see trucks speeding past me at a lightning pace, with junk in the pack swirling around just waiting to catch an exit breeze. Often times, the wind from an uncovered truck bed picks up whatever trash is blowing around back there, and it's left to dirty up the Parkway. Even worse, and this makes me grind my teeth, are the stupid idiots who leave the tailgate down with unsecured objects in the pack, from plywood and lumber to mattresses, cages, plastic piping and yes, garbage bags full of junk or cut grass, all unsecured and not tied down. Those trucks that do secure their freight do not bother me. But when loose objects are simply resting on the bed of a truck, the drivers are too ignorant or dumb to realize that they are putting people behind them in danger, especially when there is a 2 x 4 left in the middle of the road from not being tied down.

I remember on a road trip in 1998 to see Metallica, my friend had to dodge- get this- a refrigerator- in the middle of the interstate. The people hauling it had pulled over three miles down trying to figure out how far back they lost it. Holding all of their appliances together on a shabby trailer were a bunch of rubber straps with the metal hooks. Yeah, like that's gonna hold a fridge, washer and dryer, and some huge white box (deep freeze?) on a wooden trailer with half-inflated tires.

The point is this- people driving trucks need to use their head. Especially those hauling stuff. And please- STOP THROWING TRASH IN THE TRUCK BED. IT IS NOT A DEPOSITORY! If your doing 80 MPH, your trash isn't going to stay back there. Which is why Lake Hefner Parkway is notorious for litter. I think Oklahoma City should start requiring trucks to cover their beds if they are hauling bags of trash in the back. If not, they should be ticketed. Or, if you can't respect our city and state enough to keep it clean, there are 49 other states you can move to and dirty up. And don't complain about Oklahoma's litter if you're part of the problem. Chances are, that insulation that covered the Parkway median last spring was probably yours!