Last Sunday afternoon, my husband, Doug, and I decided to pick up litter alongside the highway. We brought along garbage sacks that hold 30 gallons and parked in a parking lot. Getting out of the truck, we headed down the side of the road under sunshine.

We’d talk about our jobs, upcoming projects, and the kids while trying not to make too big a deal out of the surfeit of crap we were picking up: bottles, cans, vehicle mirrors, straws, cushions, a pad, clothing, plastic, wheel rims, candy wrappers, fast food containers, coffee cups and so on. We left the full bags on the side of the road.

After filling 16 bags, plus the 5 gallon bucket we found on the side of the road, we sauntered back to the truck. Doug tells me, “You drive, and I’ll pick up the garbage.” So, we open the side doors and I climb into the driver seat while on the other side Doug looks for a napkin in the truck. Still standing outside, he calmly blows his nose on the napkin and drops it on the ground as if he has been littering his whole life.

I caught a glimpse of the napkin falling to the ground, outside the truck, and could feel my brain trigger outrage, but of course, I know Doug, he doesn’t litter. So, I started laughing and laughing. Finally getting my giggles under control, what do I do?

I ask Doug, “You did pick that napkin up and put it in the truck didn’t you?”

“Yes,” answered Doug.

When laughing, I missed the fact that Doug bent over and picked up the napkin and immediately put it in the truck. Littering goes against our nature so strong that even the joke was unbearable. But, I still am laughing when thinking about Doug’s deadpan facial expression when he pulled the joke. Admittedly, what looks like hilarity at its finest to me, may seem really boring, but this is the kind of stuff Doug and I do when we get a few minutes away from work.

It’s interesting: The human mind can jump so quickly to a wrong conclusion. I remind myself today, just because we picked up a horrendous amount of garbage doesn’t mean everyone litters. I must keep the Godlike view before me.