Huh? What’s This Garbage, Jeff Leiper?

You know some people just shouldn’t be let near a keyboard.

One of those people might be Kitchissippi Councillor Jeffy “Two-Wheels” Leiper.

What the hell is a Sturm und Drang? A drain cleaner?

Beats me. So I went to my Conrad Black Dictionary of the Verbose and Obscure, from where most readers run screaming, to learn some new words.

Yup, here it is. From Britannica:

Sturm und Drang, (German: “Storm and Stress”), German literary movement of the late 18th century that exalted nature, feeling, and human individualism and sought to overthrow the Enlightenment cult of Rationalism. Goethe and Schiller began their careers as prominent members of the movement.

The exponents of the Sturm und Drang were profoundly influenced by the thought of Rousseau and Johann Georg Hamann, who held that the basic verities of existence were to be apprehended through faith and the experience of the senses. The young writers also were influenced by the works of the English poet Edward Young, the pseudo-epic poetry of James Macpherson’s “Ossian,” and the recently translated works of Shakespeare.

You know the Sturm und Drang movement had a profound effect on me, too. I think. So too did the collected thoughts of Yogi Berra.

One of the basic principles of writin’ stuff down is don’t use a $10 word when a five-cent one will do. And even Conrad would wince at that one.

The $10 word just doesn’t do it for most readers. They are unlikely to consult Britannica for that phrase like your noble agent just did. They will read something else.

Fortunately, Leiper was on X where, just like the misguided three-bag garbage limit (how appropriate), X has a three-character limit to keep people’s attention.

Then there is the matter of the subject of this X opus … the three-bag limit … maybe there’s a big Sturm und Drang about this Mr. Von Leiper because residents expect the community to pick up their garbage in an environmentally sound way rather than have it pile up in the backyard so that rats leave the list of the homeless.

The taxpayers of this city pay for trash pickup. If it is not enough, charge more. It is the responsibility of the city to deal with it in a safe and responsible manner … not residents.

So find a solution, not an ideological position that defies practicality. And find it before garbage becomes a very serious public health problem which it might already be.

It’s your job to take out the garbage, Von Leiper. You’re getting paid for it. Do your chores.

And thus the Sturm und Drang.

I wish Von Leiper would stop making it so easy to make fun of him.

Ken Gray

The Sturm und Drang of Yogi Berra.

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