A few suggestions from a new, but firmly-planted, resident

Now that three-fourths of our family members have lived here going on three years, I feel qualified to voice my concern about a few issues that I encounter on a daily basis that detract from our pursuit of happiness and quality of life. The first being trash.

This eyesore is strewn along our roadways in unending style. I see cans and or bottles, along with fast-food paper goods seemingly everywhere I go. For the first year, my wife and I thought it must be coming from tourists, but now we realize how flawed our thinking was.

I harken back to the Native American Indian chief TV commercial from the 60's, who had a tear running down his cheek as he witnessed the landscape being littered with some of the same items I described above. What would he look like today? Moreover, what would he say? In my humble opinion, the only hope we have at curtailing this perpetual cycle of ignorance is educating our children at an early age. And I mean a specific curriculum designed to be taught in our schools, and not just a single day or a week set aside to bring ecology to their attention.

Another matter that concerns me is the number of vehicles still sporting out-of-state license plates being driven by Horry County residents. I recall a piece The Sun News ran a couple years back exposing this injustice, as parents dropped off their children at one of the Horry County Schools. But I haven't heard what, if any, positive results may have been achieved enforcing the violation after it was brought to the attention of the public. Our family members licensed our vehicles the first week we took up residence in Horry County. Why can't some sort of plan be devised and implemented to require others to do likewise?

The third issue that I'd like to raise will likely result in no marked improvement, save perhaps my personal quest for self-patience. With the population of Horry County growing, by some accounts, 33 residents daily, this inevitably means more motorists are on the roadways daily. This also means the lines at traffic signals in some locations that seemingly already stretch for miles will be even longer.

If only Horry County had a little requirement that says, “When the light finally turns green - move on!”

This story was originally published March 19, 2017 at 1:18 PM with the headline "A few suggestions from a new, but firmly-planted, resident."