Tossing diapers can’t be good karma

There’s something great about a new morning on the High Plains. The sun has just come up, the air is still cool and fresh, birds are singing. It’s even better when it’s my day off and The Lady of the House hasn’t given me her chore list yet.

This was the morning idyll I was enjoying a few days ago under the shade of the backyard elm tree, relaxing in a wicker chair, cup of coffee in my hand.

The vibe of the morning changed when a car full of folks made a turn onto the street in front of me and tossed a balled up white thingy out the window.

And there in the morning sun sat a disposable diaper.

A poopy disposable diaper.

How did I know this from a few feet away? Let’s just say there were unmistakable signs.

The fact that it was a poopy diaper was verified by the next car that rounded the corner and smooshed it into the pavement. I looked at the mess and I thought of the popular 1990’s tune, “Whoop! There it is.”

I had a sip of my coffee and pondered the sight in front of me. I remembered my college days and reading something about karma, about how it’s wrong to pass your load on to someone else.

I had another sip of coffee and I got to wondering: What went through the mind of that person as they tossed the diaper?

Anything?

Then I got to wondering about other things, like why people do some of the things they do.

For instance, last month at the Curry County Fair someone had fallen and was injured. He was lying on the ground, surrounded by folks who were doing nothing but staring at him and talking about him. I don’t know if they were guessing what his injuries were or critiquing his posture.

When the rescue squad people arrived they had to ask the crowd to move away so they could get to the fallen guy.

It made me wonder why do folks stand around and gawk at someone who is injured?

Then I thought about the line of mailboxes I saw that had been vandalized by someone with either a two-by-four or a Louisville Slugger. Statistics show this crime is typically committed by two or more males between the ages of 16 and 22 driving around and bored.

When I was between the ages of 16 and 22, I made homemade fireworks. Some of them were pretty big.

But I always took my big firecrackers way out in the country, away from people and away from “John Law.”

And I usually took along some friends who were bored and had nothing else to do. We sure didn’t mess up other people’s property and stuff.

As I wondered about these things I remembered a book of short stories by the late Raymond Carver. Out of all those stories, all those lines, the one thing I remember that he wrote was, “Who knows why we do what we do.”

And what became of the poopy diaper? After letting it bake in the eastern New Mexico sun all day. I went out that evening, scraped it off the pavement and tossed it in a nearby dumpster.

I wondered if the person who tossed the diaper had ever heard of karma, or what goes around comes around.

Sometimes it is paid back with interest.

Grant McGee hosts the weekday morning show on KTQM-FM in Clovis. Contact him at:

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