Littering: What Would You Do?

"You gonna pick that up now that you threw it down there?" said one of the men. "Yeah, we got garbage cans here," said another, clearly annoyed. "All over the godd-- place. Pick it up!"

The men were losing their patience quickly.

"You gonna pick that up or do I call a cop?" threatened a barrel-chested man, pointing at the trash with his closed umbrella.

The litterbug responded, "I'm just minding my own business."

"You're minding my business when you throw s--- on my god-- property," the man said. "I gotta pay for that s---."

A blond woman in the group then walked toward the litterbug to attempt some gentle persuasion.

"You know what? Don't listen to them," she said to the young man, trying to gain his confidence. "Just pick it up. Please do that. I don't want you to get in trouble."

"Thank you," the litterbug responded, though still noncommittal about picking up the trash.

"The woman clearly felt that the punishment should fit the crime and turning the kid over to the police was too much for this particular crime," said Keating. "You could tell she really had empathy for this kid, whereas the men's tactics were much stronger. They pointed with the umbrella and really looked angry and dominant."

Indeed, these people saw the protection of their boardwalk and beach as their civic duty, their patriotic mission.

"We love this area," said Fran Katzenberger. "And we love this country. And I don't care what it is. Whether it's this area or the country, people shouldn't litter. This is what made America in the first place: that people cared."

One of the men in the group was reminded that he had referred to the boardwalk as his property. And a few minutes later, he wasn't backing down.

"It's my land," he said. "It's my home. It's my country. I live here. I fight for this place."

Like many municipalities, Long Branch has a littering ordinance. The penalty is $106 plus court costs.