we stepped out of jason's car, and it was obvious that this wasn't going to be just exactly what i had in mind.

"this is the saddest thing i've ever seen," hannah told the director of the landfill as we took in the scenery.

seagulls.  thousands of seagualls swarmed around the mountains of trash.

i agreed with hannah, but i doubt i ever would've told the man that.

at any rate, looking out over the ranges of garbage, piled high, dirt tossed upon it, six inches in depth.  these are our cereal boxes, our plastic bottles of soda, the things we thought we needed but ended up throwing away, just like everything else.

"we generate 1100 tons of trash every day," the director says.

"we catch about 33% of the recyclable stuff," the director says.

we just nod in our mutual amazement.  i don't know how it affected jason, but i know that alicia, hannah and i were all shocked.

we've got the visit on tape, and soon everyone in the school will see it.  it's a very depressing sight, all this junk piled high upon itself, simply rotting away into the earth.

ashes to ashes.

RIP pepsi bottle.

RIP condoms.

the sixties generation tried to save the world, i guess, and maybe some of them believed their own press clippings.  i think a few of them actually thought they were here to turn things around, set them right.

our generation has made no such claims.

because we saw what happened to the hippies.  they're all working as accountants or in politics or some equally laughable career.  they became the very thing they hated - the establishment.  our generation has devoted more hours than any before to comminuty service and charity than any other, mrs. ingram once said in honors english 11, but for what?

i guess most of us do it because it looks good on college applications.

is that a bad thing?

i don't think so.  at least we're helping.

but, are we doing it to help others, to make the world a better place?  well, i guess the answer to that would be no.

i don't think i can save the world.  i wouldn't go out on a limb like that.

but i do know i'm going to start recycling again after seeing what i saw today.

bah.  i blame it all on my parents.  i'm going to bed.