For three years, our neighbor Curtis was the source of a major neighborhood eyesore. While the rest of us used standard garbage bins, he insisted on piling flimsy black bags on his curb, often days before pickup. The result was predictable: ripped plastic, scattered debris, and a terrible smell that drifted across our yards. Multiple polite requests from various neighbors were met with empty promises and a complete lack of action. The situation was frustrating and seemed hopeless.
Everything came to a head one incredibly windy night. A storm with powerful gusts hit our street, and Curtis’s unprotected trash bags didn’t stand a chance. By morning, it looked like a landfill had exploded. Every single yard was littered with his garbage—pizza boxes in hedges, napkins on car windshields, and a truly horrifying smell. We confronted him as a group, demanding he clean up the mess he had caused. He simply shrugged, called it an “act of nature,” and shut the door in our faces.
The real justice, however, was delivered by nature itself. The very next morning, a large family of raccoons discovered the treasure trove of easily accessible food in Curtis’s yard. They tore through his new bags with expert precision, spreading the mess everywhere and even using his swimming pool to “wash” their finds. We all watched from our windows as he ran outside, yelling helplessly at the unfazed animals. The sight of him trying to clean raccoon-soaked garbage with a tiny dustpan was the lesson he needed. Within days, two new, heavy-duty, animal-proof garbage bins appeared at his curb, and our neighborhood was finally peaceful again.
