This month, DC announced that they were suspending street cleaning for the winter.
Which, of course, begs the question, DC cleans the streets? I’ve seen the signs announcing “street cleaning day”, but I always assumed “street cleaning day” was a vestigial holiday with mythological roots, whose origin is lost to the mists of time, a meaningless day that no one pays much attention to. Kind of like Ground Hog Day. Or Election Day.
I’ve never seen anyone in DC livery cleaning the streets in our neighborhood. But, like most ancient traditions, certain rituals are carried on, even after they have lost any connection with reality; in this case, DC still writes tickets for parking on the wrong side of the street on “street cleaning day,” and they still announce when they suspend and resume street cleaning.
Some day, these rituals will die out, too, just like the day-long massacre of ground hogs on Ground Hog Day. And hopefully, someday, “street cleaning day” will be tossed on the ash-heap of history, like the ancient Hanseatic “Baby Eating Festival” of yore, that no one hears much about any more.
5 comments:
Street cleaning is the Flag Day of District promises: we know it exists, we've heard of it, but no one's ever seen it observed.
I have it on good authority that Ground Hog Day DOES indeed exist. Groundhogs, I'm not so sure about.
My 2-year-old recently came this <-> close to picking up a used condom on the sidewalk in our oft-neglected corner of NE DC. Even though it wasn't Street Cleaning Day. Does that count as SCD proof?
Oh some areas the cleaners and the ... associated parking enforcers rejoice, during the wed/thurs alterations. I'm in Dupont, and i've gotten many a tickets on street cleaning day. $35 bucks each
This is several years ago, have you ever experienced a street cleaning day since this? Maybe you and your neighborhood could start a tradition of a “street cleaning day”? At least to call the attention of cleaning authorities to do what supposed to be, is their job. Rudy @ Haaker.com
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