From a Washington Post column:
Andy Chasin’s story begins at home, in Woodley Park, with [a Fed Ex package]. . . . [S]omehow the air bill, the sheet of paper that contains Chasin’s address, wound up in his pocket, where he discovered it earlier this month while walking on Connecticut Avenue NW.
Having no need for the slip, Chasin tossed it into the trash can on the corner. . . .
Last Friday, Chasin, 28, was in his office at the law firm of Baker & Hostetler, when he received from the District government a Notice of Violation . . . . The city’s Department of Public Works charges Chasin with Improper Use of Public Litter Receptacles. Fine: $35.
The notice is signed by Cecil Herd, Solid Waste Inspector. Attached to the notice is the evidence: the FedEx bill. . . .
[The relevant regulation is] 24 DCMR 1009.1: “Public wastepaper boxes shall not be used for the disposal of refuse incidental to the conduct of a household, store, or other place of business. . . . ” . . .
“Folks hate to be caught doing something that maybe they weren’t supposed to do.” That’s Mary Myers, spokeswoman for the city’s Department of Public Works. “I understand he’s frustrated. But we have an enormous problem of overflowing litter cans due to people putting their home or business trash in the public litter cans.”
But Mary, a single sheet of paper?
“Doesn’t matter,” she says. “The purpose of public litter cans is for simple pedestrian trash — cups, food wrappers, a gum wrapper, the kind of thing you would have in your pocket.”
But Chasin had this paper . . . in his pocket. Would it be a violation if I tossed the tissue now in my pocket?
“No, that’s fine.”
What’s the difference here?
“A bill is something one could assume had been mailed. It’s not likely to be something you would have crumpled in your pocket, like a receipt.” . . .
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