A Cleaner River (2)

The three brothers went out on the river almost every day, weather permitting. They tied some rowboats behind their boat to use as floating trash cans. They picked up all the trash they could see floating in the river. Friends joined them. Then friends told other friends, and by the end of the first year there were more than 200 volunteers helping the Green Fleet clean up the river. In the first 365 days, the brothers estimated that they had removed more than 10 tons of trash from the river. Their work was creating a cleaner-looking and cleaner-smelling river. Corporations got involved and donated money and materials. By the end of the second year, the Green Fleet had grown to four boats and four barges. The brothers appeared on radio talk shows and on local and national TV shows. Activists throughout the nation began organizing their own Green Fleets. The Green Fleet got bigger and better every year. Five years after its inception, the three brothers were able to go snorkeling on weekends in their river. Unfortunately, a year later, Manny accidentally stuck himself with a hypodermic needle while picking up a dirty plastic bag. He got an infection but didn’t see a doctor until it was too late. At Manny's funeral, his brothers vowed to carry on their volunteer work until they were too sick or old to do it any longer. To honor Manny, the St. James city council voted to rename the city's largest park after him.

A Clean Toilet Bowl

Mildred’s sister called. She was going to drop by. And whenever she visited, she usually made at least one trip to the bathroom. That meant one thing—Mildred needed to clean her toilet bowl. This was the household chore that she hated the most. It was so icky! She grabbed the cleanser from beneath the bathroom sink. She sprinkled lots of it into the toilet bowl. Then she got out of her clothes, put on a big T-shirt, and pulled on her long-sleeved rubber gloves. Finally, she put on her goggles, because she didn’t want any toilet water to splash into her eyes. She didn’t know if toilet water could cause an eye infection, but she wasn’t going to take any chances. She grabbed the long-handled toilet bowl brush that was beneath the sink. She started scrubbing. She scrubbed under the rim, all around the bowl, and deep into the throat of the bowl. Five minutes later, she figured she was finished. She flushed the toilet and checked the bowl. It was clean as a whistle. Mildred breathed a sigh of relief, because usually she had to scrub the bowl twice to remove all the stains. She removed her goggles, gloves, and T-shirt. Then she hopped into the shower.