"Vic" will never be forgotten

Every year in June, our fair city presents the Grand Floral Parade for the Rose Festival. Its route snakes through streets on both sides of the river, and many, many thousands of people attend. because there are so many parade watchers, obviously, real estate along the curbs and sidewalks is at a premium. People are allowed to reserve their space a few days in advance, marking out their viewing territory with tape, paint, chairs chained to sign posts, etc.

However, the drawback to this system is that nearly nobody takes the responsibility to clean up their markings after the parade is over. Months later, our streets are still polluted with electrical tape:

This is highly ironic. You see, Portland is a city that prides itself on being on the cutting edge of environmental conservatism. We have scores of "green" buildings constructed each year. We recycle 40% or more of our waste. Et cetera, ad infinitum, ad nauseum.

Yet we can't take a couple of minutes to yank up a couple of freaking strips of tape once a year. Vic, wherever you are, you have some unfinished business.