Rubbish-Throwing Neighbours!

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My missus cleaning our neighbours drain!

Cleanliness is a very important aspect of our daily lives and nowhere is it more important than in the housing area that you live in.  It is even more crucial when you consider the fact that the cleanliness of a housing area cannot depend on the occupants of one or two houses alone; in fact it warrants the concerted effort of everyone in every household.

However, having said all that, this is not the case where I live.  Some neighbours only make time to look after the front portion of their houses like their garden, drains and potted plants.  Sad to say, that is about the only portion of the house that they do take care of.  The back part of the house is unfortunately left to the elements and the drains are left to whatever the neighbours can 'generously' and carelessly dump into them!

These neighbours very rarely, if not at all, open the back doors of their houses (for reasons that I am unaware of  and thus, are oblivious to the conditions of the drains there.  Some of the time the drains are clogged with dried leaves, but most of the time, humans are the main contributors of the things that cause clogged drains and stagnant water.  These 'generous' neighbours contribute plastic water bottles, plastic bags and there was even an occasion when I found a broken earthen pot and an unhusked coconut!

Naturally, I always feel reluctant to clean up after my irresponsible neighbours and I even asked my missus not to do it.  Imagine having to dig out smelly and dirty things from the drains!  But, when we thought about the rising dengue fever cases, and the fact that the Aedes mosquitoes would not cleverly pick and choose to attack only those guilty people who throw rubbish into the drain, we had no choice but to become our neighbours involuntary drain cleaners.  

I am sure, every time my wife and I carry out our civic duty as the neighbours' 'drain cleaners, some of them would be quietly peeping through their kitchen windows.  I assume  these people are more than happy to see us getting our hands soiled and cleaning their drains while they languish within the confines of their comfortable homes, happy with the fact that they can always count on us to do the dirty jobs!  I also imagine these people smirking silently thinking, "better you than me!"

To these people who call themselves neighbours, open your doors and become the real neighbours living in a real neighbourhood.  The responsibility of cleaning our neighbourhood rests on our shoulders, and not merely on the shoulders of my wife and me.  It would definitely make cleaning the neighbourhood a lot easier; after all many hands make light work!

If these neighbours persist on leaving the cleaning of their dirty drains to us, then it is not only their drains that need cleaning but also their hearts and brains!