Bena Mae’s Kitchen: Have they no respect?

Do you know what doesn’t throw itself from a moving car? A bag from a fast food restaurant, followed by a plastic cup and the remnants of a Whopper. The excessive litterbug thinks the world is his dumpster. He has no qualms about tossing his refuse out the window and spoiling the environment for others.

Just recently I pulled into a parking space at my local drugstore. When I stepped out of the car, I had to step around a pile of cigarette butts that had been emptied onto the pavement. A whole ashtray full of cigarette butts that had been carelessly tossed out by some cretin who had total disregard for others. He obviously didn’t want them stinking up his car. Well, bless his little pea-picking heart. I uttered some choice words under my breath about his legitimacy and went on into the store, champing at the bit.

Several years ago, I had as my guest a teacher from France who was here on an exchange program. She was captivated by the natural beauty of this area and I took her to many beautiful and historic places that we are blessed with… Cumberland Gap, Norris Dam, Cumberland Falls, the Pinnacle, etc. A trip to the Smokies was a must on the agenda. Brother Don and Judy drove down to accompany us, Don being the designated driver for the trip.

If you’ve been to Cades Cove in the Smokies, you know that the road leading into the cove is a narrow one-way road that doesn’t allow for passing cars in front of you. The traffic was bumper-to-bumper, which was no problem for us because my friend Genevieve was enjoying the beauties of nature, even jumping out of the car to take pictures of a deer she spotted. She was especially fascinated by the kudzu vines we often saw on our trips, the menacing pest we have come to hate, but something she had never seen in her country.

The car directly in front of us was a red sports car–I remember it distinctly–suddenly slowed and threw the remnants of their lunch… paper bags, cups, napkins, food… out the window. We were all infuriated by this total lack of respect for the park. Don practically hooked bumpers with the neanderthal ahead while we attempted to get in touch by cell phone with a park ranger to report the violation of park rules. We took down the car’s license number, but to no avail since we were unable to reach a ranger. Meanwhile, the litterers turned off a side road and we lost sight of them. A beautiful day had been marred by an empty-headed nincompoop.

A man in Florida who lives on the beach had his own way of stopping a litterbug. When he saw a car drive up, toss a bag of litter beside a trash bin on the beach in front of his house, then nonchalantly drive away, he sorted through the bag of trash, found the man’s address and proceeded to take it to the man’s house and dump it on his front lawn.

Now there you go.

Serve this to your Superbowl guests.

Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup

1 onion, chopped

1 (16 ounce) can chili beans

1 (15 ounce) can black beans

1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer

2 (10 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green

chilies, undrained

1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning

3 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts

shredded Cheddar cheese (optional)

sour cream (optional)

crushed tortilla chips (optional)

Place the onion, chili beans, black beans, corn, tomato sauce, beer, and diced tomatoes in a slow cooker. Add taco seasoning, and stir to blend. Lay chicken breasts on top of the mixture, pressing down slightly until just covered by the other ingredients. Set slow cooker for low heat, cover, and cook for 5 hours.

Remove chicken breasts from the soup, and allow to cool long enough to be handled. Stir the shredded chicken back into the soup, and continue cooking for 2 hours. Serve topped with shredded Cheddar cheese, a dollop of sour cream, and crushed tortilla chips, if desired.