On his morning walks, 81-year-old Michael Dukakis, the longest-serving governor in the history of Massachusetts and the 1988 Democratic presidential nominee, is still picking up litter around Boston waging his one-man war against evil litterbugs. By putting the trash in its place, Dukakis also shows what it means to be a public servant.
If you live in #Boston, there’s a good chance that former governor Michael #Dukakis is picking up litter nearby. http://t.co/1LScoy2gZi
— Joyce Saenz Harris (@JoyceSHarris) August 15, 2015
Recently, Boston lawyer Sarah Godfrey saw him picking up trash between the tunnels of two MBTA stations. In a letter to The Boston Globe, Godfrey wrote that the “nice old man” was “grouchy” and said that the train stations were “always filthy”.
In which ex-governor and pres nominee Dukakis picks up trash in Boston. Hard to imagine this happing in the Mideast. pic.twitter.com/ITcErVPNpQ — DavidKenner (@DavidKenner) August 14, 2015
However, it’s just one of the many sightings of the ‘trash man’ cleaning up the streets.
Michael Dukakis. Weirdo, awesome, lives in my old neighborhood, walks around picking up trash. You do you, governor. https://t.co/NJ1svn4OHB — Benjamin O’Connor (@notamateurhour) August 14, 2015
SPOTTED! Mike Dukakis picking up trash on the street this morning in the Fenway section of Boston. #mapoli pic.twitter.com/7L2iylndql — Michael Levenson (@mlevenson) July 15, 2015
On a dreary workday morning, few things make me happier than seeing Michael Dukakis pick up litter along his walk to work. — Al Armstrong (@Kashyyyk13) September 10, 2014
Dukakis stopped to pick up every piece of litter left on the street by #Sandy. What a guy. — Grant Rowley (@growley2) October 30, 2012
Saw Gov. Dukakis walking to work this morning. He’s always carrying a bag of trash he’s picked up along his route. Very admirable, I think. — Jeremy Dibbell (@JBD1) October 18, 2010
Michael Dukakis just made my morning. He is collecting litter in the fenz. Alone on his way to teach no doubt. — Ted Bowman (@tedbowman) October 21, 2009
A 2003 story in The Boston Globe centered on his obsession with litter. “There are many issues the former governor gets passionate about—teaching, high-speed rail—but this morning, it’s all about litter. “I mean, look at this crap! It’s appalling, disgraceful. There’s just no excuse for it. It’s enough to drive you out of your mind. You see it all over the place and you have to ask: Why isn’t anyone dealing with this?” he said.
Politicians are meant to serve the interests of the public, but how often do you see them bending over to pick up plastic wrappers and discarded papers?
Ex-governor Mike Dukakis on his litter collection efforts: “I pick up everything but used condoms.” #fenwaynews — John A Keith (@JohnAKeith) July 16, 2013
“How many ex-governors do you think go around picking up trash at train stations?” God bless Michael Dukakis. https://t.co/IWNAurvG8g — Garrett Casey (@gt_casey) August 14, 2015
This story about a “grouchy Dukakis” made my morning. We missed a good opportunity in 88′. http://t.co/ftkJ1cedNp
— Joseph Christ (@TheJosephChrist) August 14, 2015
“Mike Dukakis isn’t the hero we want, but he’s the hero we need.” http://t.co/mCxhx1woQb I dunno about you, but he’s always the hero I want. — Katie Dillon (@ktd92) August 14, 2015
This Article (Ex-Governor Picking Up Boston’s Trash Since 1991) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author and AnonHQ.com.
This is a non-story. The real story is that the man who was in line to be the world’s most powerful man was completely disappeared from public life for decades. Not a single interview, essay, nothing. Now he reappears doing something local and civic and people scratch their heads: didn’t he have ride in a tank wearing a ridiculous helmet and didn’t his drunkard wife drink the nail polish remover?