April 2, 1969 (I was 24)
The principal walked through the open air patio
in a junior high-school whose architecture will be
remembered in ages hence as a representational type,
mid 20th century public education plant, California-
Ranch. As was his custom whenever he walked across
campus to the Men’s Room or to the teachers’ lunch
room for a coke, he picked up bits of litter from the
walk, from the planters, and deposited the refuse into
a waste container. This particular day he saw a
cigarette butt between the teachers’ room
and the boys’ lavatory. He thought about it, and when
he returned to the office he told his secretary to include
a notice in the daily bulletin headed Teachers Only:
Please be careful when disposing of your cigarette ends,
so students will not see them discarded on the campus
grounds. No other perpetrator occurred to him.
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