Old Habits Die Hard

While walking Augie this morning I watched a man finish off his cigarette, throw it down onto the sidewalk and stomp the sucker while standing right smack next to one of those outside ash trays.  

I thought to myself "wow, does he not see that waist-high butt bowl?"  I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt because by the looks of him, he's been smoking for a good, long time and he's used to the whole "toss down and stomp" thing.  An old habit.

I know I'm not alone in this one because I hear it all the time - I'm trying really hard not to use "gotta."  If you think about it, it means "got to" and that's just wrong.  "I got to go downtown now."  It should always be replaced with "have to" - right?  It's a habit that most Americans have picked up over the years and it sounds right but isn't.

I've talked about this before but having a dog has really brought it to my attention.  I don't believe people picked up after their dogs 25 years ago.  Well, maybe if they lived in a big city but elsewhere?  I think not.  They walked their dog, it "did its thing" and they moved on.  It's a different world now.  They need to break that bad habit.  The bottoms of our shoes would appreciate it.

Is it a bad habit to leave the butter (I'm talkin' the real stuff) out on the counter top?   All the time?  That's how I was raised but it's been a topic of discussion around here lately.  We also used to leave the ketchup out but mine has been in the fridge for years now.

I've also talked about the swearing thing.  It's a bad habit that I'm having a helluva time breaking.

What about you?  Got any?  Oops, I mean "do you have any?"