Social responsibility - Yes, no or not arsed?

[Si_Crewe]

Just one of those little things and I was wondering what people might think...

One of our neighbours lives in a flat and is a keen gardener.
For the last 5 years, or so, he's built up quite a collection of large plant "pots" (large rectangular ones about 3ft long) which he's grown all sorts of rather impressive flowers and plants in.
Every spring he carts them all outside and leaves them on the grass around the flats and every winter he takes them in and leaves them in the hallways of the flats.

Now it seems that he's moving out and has decided not to take all his plants with him and it looks as though he's taken all his plant "troughs" (dunno what the correct term is) and placed them all around the area - near a kids play area, in alleyways, along footpaths, next to benches etc.

They do look very nice and I appreciate the sentiment behind the gesture but I wonder whether or not it was the right thing to do.
I mean, after leaving them all lying around, other people are going to have to take it upon themselves to look after them and, more importantly, everybody has to respect them and not drop rubbish into them, damage them or vandalise them or they're going to end up looking a mess.

Last night, while walking the dogs, I noticed that the 2 left behind our house had been tipped over and I had to spend half an hour scraping up all the soil, putting it back in the troughs and making all the plants look pretty again.
They'e only been there since last weekend so that isn't exactly a promising start.

It just made me wonder about how we all, as a society, value stuff like this.
It'd be nice if we could ALL appreciate a gesture like this but, given that isn't likely to happen, is it reasonable for somebody to just, basically, discard something and rely on everybody else to look after it and is it reasonable to expect everybody to respect things like this and not damage them?
Alternatively, should communal spaces just be utilitarian because not everybody can be expected to appreciate these things and there's a good chance that they're going to end up creating mess?

Just wondering what people think.

[Frank39]

I'll go for the not arsed option thanks.

[Vam]

Nice sentiment behind the gesture, I guess, but the cynic in me imagines not many would be arsed to care for the planters left in the communal areas you describe.

Perhaps he could have donated the planters to a hospice or a retirement home, for the residents to enjoy? At least then there would maybe be more chance for the plants to be tended, watered, etc.

[Random]

Why not take the 2 left behind your house and put them in your own garden?

Is be tempted to put them all in my garden as the people around here don't really have any interest in gardening. So I'd have the lot.

[Stooo]

I think that social responsibility should mean a lot more that just leaving some plants behind that other people feel obliged to care for when the fucking council is supposed to make things look nice and not covered in dog shit. Your neighbour just fly tipped a load of stuff that he couldn't be arsed with enough to take with him and littered the place which will have to be cleared up by the council which will deprive the 'nice places unit' of funds.

Meanwhile look out for the old, young, pissed and sober. Be aware of the people around you and talk to them, smile, do anything other than ignore them. Look out for heaps of mail on the doorstep, lots of flies on the insides of windows, help the old lady load her car at the supermarket. It really isn't difficult to treat other people as humans, even if you don't know them.

We're a social animal and at some base level we all bond.

[PinkSmurf]

He has just dumped them. Before he left he could've asked neighbours if they wanted them and then asked the council to take the rest.

[Lady Murasaki]

I think that social responsibility should mean a lot more that just leaving some plants behind that other people feel obliged to care for when the fucking council is supposed to make things look nice and not covered in dog shit. Your neighbour just fly tipped a load of stuff that he couldn't be arsed with enough to take with him and littered the place which will have to be cleared up by the council which will deprive the 'nice places unit' of funds.

Meanwhile look out for the old, young, pissed and sober. Be aware of the people around you and talk to them, smile, do anything other than ignore them. Look out for heaps of mail on the doorstep, lots of flies on the insides of windows, help the old lady load her car at the supermarket. It really isn't difficult to treat other people as humans, even if you don't know them.

We're a social animal and at some base level we all bond.

Well said.
What's a few tipped over plant pots compared to the lonely, scared elderly person living down the road or next door?

Although I do think it was a nice gesture for this man to leave something pretty behind in the hope others may want to keep it up.

[malamute]

I'm guessing this is an older gentleman? The older generation DO take more pride in their gardens and their local surroundings. Often there are reports in newspapers and onTV about people who have tidied up their village or street and they're always older people. THey pick litter, clean alleyways, plant flowers and shrubs and some even provide seats so people can sit in a nice place for a little while. I've seen really dingy, depressed alleys and waste ground transformed by volunteers ..... I think it's a great idea.

Is it really going to kill anybody or take up all their time just moving a few planters and giving them a bit of water every so often?

I pick up litter every time I walk to the shops and several other people do the same. It takes seconds and makes the place look so much better. My Mum and a couple of her friends used to take turns cleaning out the phone box near her home.

Carry on the tradition Si Crewe and make your little environment that bit more special.

[Si_Crewe]

I think that social responsibility should mean a lot more that just leaving some plants behind that other people feel obliged to care for when the fucking council is supposed to make things look nice and not covered in dog shit. Your neighbour just fly tipped a load of stuff that he couldn't be arsed with enough to take with him and littered the place which will have to be cleared up by the council which will deprive the 'nice places unit' of funds.

Meanwhile look out for the old, young, pissed and sober. Be aware of the people around you and talk to them, smile, do anything other than ignore them. Look out for heaps of mail on the doorstep, lots of flies on the insides of windows, help the old lady load her car at the supermarket. It really isn't difficult to treat other people as humans, even if you don't know them.

We're a social animal and at some base level we all bond.

Well said.
What's a few tipped over plant pots compared to the lonely, scared elderly person living down the road or next door?

Although I do think it was a nice gesture for this man to leave something pretty behind in the hope others may want to keep it up.

To b clear, I wasn't suggesting that looking after a few plants is the LIMIT of our social responsibility.

I was just using it as a good example of the way something so simple highlights issues related to this stuff.

Something happened which nobody was asked about.
Some people will appreciate it and be happy with the extra responsibility it entails, some people will probably be unhappy with them being "dumped" around the place, some people will choose to vandalise them and some people will shrug their shoulders and assume it's "nothing to do with them".
All a bit of a metapor for many things in society these days.

Vam's idea was a very good one and I've asked a nurse at a local old folks' home whether they'd be interested in the planters (now I know what they're called ) but I'm not sure I have the right to just arbitrarily collect them up and cart them away.
i'm in the process of asking some neighbours if they want to keep them or if I should try to find a good home for them but that sort of thing takes a while.
For all I know,

[Frankly]

I think that social responsibility should mean a lot more that just leaving some plants behind that other people feel obliged to care for when the fucking council is supposed to make things look nice and not covered in dog shit. Your neighbour just fly tipped a load of stuff that he couldn't be arsed with enough to take with him and littered the place which will have to be cleared up by the council which will deprive the 'nice places unit' of funds.

Meanwhile look out for the old, young, pissed and sober. Be aware of the people around you and talk to them, smile, do anything other than ignore them. Look out for heaps of mail on the doorstep, lots of flies on the insides of windows, help the old lady load her car at the supermarket. It really isn't difficult to treat other people as humans, even if you don't know them.

We're a social animal and at some base level we all bond.

You really come across as a decent bloke, Stooo.

[BigAndy9]

Hello Si - have you spoken to the geezer? Has he spoken to others and already asked if they would like him to leave them - did they say they would look after them?

[Cherry de Voured]

Parents (with a little help from schools) should just teach their little shits to be pleasant people. Manners, politeness... Just decent human qualities.

[Nucks]

In the case you mention, I think it would have been better if he discussed it with a few residents instead of assuming someone would pick up where he left off. Many people, for various reasons, don't have any interest in gardening. I'm kind of an accidental gardener. A few years ago we had a hanging basket with some flowers and ivy in it, and when the flowers died in the late fall, I chucked the remains into the little bed of dirt in the front garden, thinking it would just compost itself. I didn't know ivy grows like a weed and now the entire front brick wall has a lovely covering of ivy on it. Yay me.

Other things to do with social responsibility that irk me are people littering or not picking up after their dog. Oh, and fly-tipping. Do these people think there is a magical fairy who takes care of it?

[Lady Murasaki]

I think that social responsibility should mean a lot more that just leaving some plants behind that other people feel obliged to care for when the fucking council is supposed to make things look nice and not covered in dog shit. Your neighbour just fly tipped a load of stuff that he couldn't be arsed with enough to take with him and littered the place which will have to be cleared up by the council which will deprive the 'nice places unit' of funds.

Meanwhile look out for the old, young, pissed and sober. Be aware of the people around you and talk to them, smile, do anything other than ignore them. Look out for heaps of mail on the doorstep, lots of flies on the insides of windows, help the old lady load her car at the supermarket. It really isn't difficult to treat other people as humans, even if you don't know them.

We're a social animal and at some base level we all bond.

Well said.
What's a few tipped over plant pots compared to the lonely, scared elderly person living down the road or next door?

Although I do think it was a nice gesture for this man to leave something pretty behind in the hope others may want to keep it up.

To b clear, I wasn't suggesting that looking after a few plants is the LIMIT of our social responsibility.

I was just using it as a good example of the way something so simple highlights issues related to this stuff.

Something happened which nobody was asked about.
Some people will appreciate it and be happy with the extra responsibility it entails, some people will probably be unhappy with them being "dumped" around the place, some people will choose to vandalise them and some people will shrug their shoulders and assume it's "nothing to do with them".
All a bit of a metapor for many things in society these days.

Vam's idea was a very good one and I've asked a nurse at a local old folks' home whether they'd be interested in the planters (now I know what they're called ) but I'm not sure I have the right to just arbitrarily collect them up and cart them away.
i'm in the process of asking some neighbours if they want to keep them or if I should try to find a good home for them but that sort of thing takes a while.
For all I know,

And some people do too much naval gazing.
Do it, don't do it, whatever floats your boat.

If I were you I'd do what you've done and try to keep it up as much as I could manage to. id do it for myself not for praise from others, if they appreciate it, good, if they don't, sod 'em.

[Si_Crewe]

And some people do too much naval gazing.
Do it, don't do it, whatever floats your boat.

Last time I checked, this was a discussion forum; a place for, y'know, discussion.

Something happened which I thought was kind of interesting and I wondered what people might think of it.