
Guess what? It's time for a good old rant! Haven't had one in a while. But today I feel moved and motivated to let my opinions fly.
Today's subject? The Trash Man.
The Scenario: Yesterday was trash day. I took the trash out in the morning, like I always do. A couple hours later, I came home from running errands and noticed that my trash can was tipped over. It was a windy day, so it must have blown backwards. As I straightened it up, I saw that it was still full, so I left it on the curb. Later that day I noticed that most of the cans on the street had been pulled back in. I went to get mine....still full.
So I called Allied Waste today to tell them that my can had been skipped. She had no idea why this would be. Then I asked about the tipped can. If it was tipped, would the trash man just skip it? Oh yes, she said. That was policy. The trash man was not allowed to get out of the truck and straighten it up. Too dangerous.
TOO DANGEROUS? For the last hundred years since trash trucks have been around, the trash man got OUT of the truck, picked up the heavy trash can with his bare hands, and heaved the contents into the truck. But now, in this age of technology and scientific sophistication, it's now too dangerous for a man to step out of his truck and straighten the can so the truck's mechanical arm can pick it up??? Yeah. Sure. I mean, he might trip on his shoelace and fall under the wheels of the truck and the truck might go into gear by itself and drive forward by itself and run him over. OR the man might accidentally fall INTO the trash can as he's straightening it, and the truck might somehow pick the can up while the man is inside and dump him into the truck's belly. Or, heaven forbid, the trash man might sprain his pinkie while straightening the trash can. We can't have that, now can we? Yes, I see as I examine the situation that this really is a highly dangerous job. The trash man is much better off staying in the safety of his cab he isn't at risk for doing serious bodily damage.
Good thinking, Allied Waste. Thanks for saving the lives of countless trash men.
(I know I probably have much too high of expectations for someone who picks up trash for a living, but seriously, I've never seen such low standards for a public service job. EVER.)
There, now I feel better.