Some folks call it litter. Other folks call it trash.

Some folks go to the drug dealers. Other folks go to the drug store.

Some folks go to the bootlegger. Other folks go to the ABC store.

Some folks love to go out dancing. Other folks will tell you “It’ll send you straight to hell.”

Some folks like to sit around in circles with their laptops, eating potato chips and drinking water that’s wrapped in plastic.

Other folks are waiting for someone to form a committee to ban all committees.

Some folks use ditches for their litter or trash. Other folks use the garbage trucks and the landfill.

Do you get the picture? Everything is connected.

People in circles want to talk about problematic situations, being more humanistic to the homeless community and to see who can use the biggest word.

I want to keep it simple and talk about the pillars of the community, the solution, and country music.

I have the solution for your litter problem, but let’s hold off for a little while and talk about the pillars.

Did you (the litter forum) ever wonder how one family could generate five or six bags of trash in a week?

Did you ever wonder why you tolerated one of the county’s so called “leaders” driving drunk. Maybe you should get the video of his arrest and show that to the school kids. That would really educate them about dangers.

Did you ever wonder why at least three (that I know of) Bored members accepted a trophy for something that they didn’t do?

Did you ever wonder how a town manager could embezzle hundreds of thousand dollars and “believed he had not done anything wrong?”

Did you ever wonder why the RoCo Sheriff’s office can’t comprehend that releasing balloons is littering?

Did you ever wonder why you can’t check out an R-rated movie from the ROCO Public Library, but that the Salisbury Post is still full of stories every week about shootings, killings, child abuse, child molesting, child pornography, and child rape?

Well, I’ve wondered about all of them. Then I wondered why other people still wondered why there’s trash in the ditches.

Let’s talk some country music. Elvis gave the “Litter Forum” some real good advice way back in 1969 when he sang, “Clean Up Your Own Back Yard.” Toby Keith did it again in 1993 when he sang, “A Little Less Talk and A Lot More Action.”

I would love to know how many people came to the meeting (in person) and how long it lasted. Let me guess. About seven people and maybe two hours.

Do you figure out how much “litter or trash” that many people in that much time could have picked up?

Did you think about strapping on a safety vest and going to the post office? You were right there at it.

Johnny Cash looked good dressed in black or Black. Marilyn Monroe looked good in white, and I’ll bet you Greg Edds would look good in orange.

Instead of more meetings, sitting around talking in circles and brainstorming, why don’t you try connecting the dots?

In all of my world travels, I’ve met a few, a very few, people that connected the dots. I’ve also met a few, again — a very few, that are trying to connect the dots. I’ve met a lot, I’m talking about a whole lot, of people that don’t have any idea what I’m talking about.

About 11 out of nine can’t comprehend it, and the other two don’t care.

One more song before we get to the solution. This one is for WBT News for announcing the “Forum” would begin at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday “night.” Here’s a Ronnie Milsap classic — I’m having “Daydreams About Night Things” in the middle of the afternoon. No need to thank me, David, you’re welcome.

Now — here’s your solution. You can also use it for your motto. This didn’t come from country music, it came from science. Bill Nye summed it up for all of us when he stated: “To leave the world better than you found it, sometimes you have to pick up other people’s trash.”

Everything is connected. Everyone is connected to everyone else. It ain’t just Salisbury and Rowan County. The whole world has “litter” and “Little Erica Parsons” on their hands and on their minds.

Whitey Harwood lives in Rowan County.