The Smell

There is a foul and unpleasant odor to be found in the hallway outside my apartment. It's been there for a few days now; possibly a couple weeks.

I know the smell isn't coming from my place. I don't smell it 'til I open my door to leave. Believe me, I'd know if this disgusting stench originated in my apartment. It's like a cross between month old garbage and used diapers. When I say used, I mean used of the number two variety.

I'm not pointing fingers, but the culprits seem to be down the hall. Next door, I've noticed several grocery bags that are tied closed that have just been sitting outside my neighbor's door for quite some time. I'm not saying it's them, but it seems suspicious that the smell began around the same time I noticed these bags just sitting there. However, directly across the hall from those bags, the other neighbors seem to have a collection of cardboard boxes that have built up in front of their door over time. I don't know if these boxes are empty or if they contain some horrible waste that creates noxious fumes.

I don't think I'm tooting my own horn when I say that I take my trash out on a regular basis. When the bag is full, I tie it up and carry it down to the dumpster that's so generously provided by the management. That's just how I've assumed things are to be done. That's just how I assumed that all people are supposed to deal with their trash, whether it smells bad or not. So what gives my neighbors the right to leave their garbage sitting outside their doors for weeks at a time? Do they really think that by leaving it there, it will all just magically disappear; that they'll never have to deal with those sights or smells ever again?

Come on neighbors, grow up.