"Rubbish!"

What is it with the British and Garbage, or as they say "Rubbish"? I'd often heard Italy described as "dirty". I've visited Italy, and it isn't any dirtier than Los Angeles, which I thought "wasn't that dirty". Of course, that was before I went to Germany where I was introduced to how "clean" a metropolitan area can be. This made me realize that those complaints about cleanliness would also be leveled against Los Angeles.

However, nothing prepared me for the filth that is London. It's no secret, though somehow I wasn't in on it, that London is one of the most polluted cities on the planet. It is amazing to me that trash day can come and go, and yet nothing is picked up. I've seen huge piles of garbage in front of my building that are absolutely horrifying. I've been told that the city fathers are very afraid of rats, and that if the garbage gets too bad, simply to call City Hall and complain that I'm seeing rats crawling around the garbage bins. Well, if they'd just pick up the garbage like they are supposed to, there wouldn't be any rats to be afraid of. Thankfully, garbage pickup came this week, and now the front of the building and street are back to their only slightly dirtier than they should be state. At least until next week. . .