How things are done

At our Lake Board meeting the other night, the Chair was describing how the staff currently sweep the sometimes copious goose poop off the floating docks into a bucket and carry it in a boat or canoe back into the woods to dump it there. Because meetings always run too late and this was much too small a topic to kick off a potentially contentious discussion, I didn't say anything. It has always been my practice to kick the stuff off the dam with my foot, or if necessary my hand, into the lake, and then splash off the remnant using lake water. This tends to get the dock to an appropriate Pareto or 20/80 level of cleanliness.

It is a frickin lake, after all, and animals are pooping in it 24/7.

Often there are parents over on the beach 20-30 yards away, and none of them has ever said "oh my god! My child is swimming in this lake and you are putting goose poop in there." Far from it, I believe they are actually thinking "thank God that guy is taking care of that nasty work. I just had to change a diaper (or just got through that stage a couple of years ago) and am tired of dealing with poop."

The next day, I and another member of the Board, a scientist who tests the water and deals with environmental contamination professionally (teaches at Duke, consults with Beijing, New Delhi on air quality) if it would be Ok if the staff just swept the poop into the lake. Of course it would, I said.

Today I was sitting on the porch reading The Economist, and I was very happy to see some kid float out to the docks on a boat and do exactly what I described above. Did a great job of it, in fact.