Trash Day Guilt
20 May 2010
I feel insanely guilty on trash days.
No matter how many times I tell myself that garbage collection is a service we pay for, that the guys who dump the contents of my trash can into the truck get paid for their work, I’m still left feeling like someone else is having to clean up my mess.
This is made worse by the fact that our house is surrounded by single women (seriously – one across the street, and one on either side of us) and empty nesters. They usually have, like, a grocery bag of Kleenex sitting at the end of their driveway. Ours, however, is a full trash can of heavy, stinky diapers.
If we’re outside when the garbage trucks turn down the street, McKenna always wants to watch and tell them hi. I, on the other hand, would rather tape a thank you note to the top of our trashcan, then dash inside before they can match my face with the House of Nasty Trash.
My neighbor is always out there chatting with the guys. (About what, I have no idea.) If I wandered out there, I would probably wind up apologizing. And hoofing my own trash into the truck.
Comments
The only times I feel guilty are the days when they’re next door, watching me lug the heavy trashcan out there just as they approach…
Posted by Ben on 20 May 2010
If Johnson County didn’t make it so easy on us, I’d lack motivation to recycle too, Roseanna. I’m super impressed by my parents and in-laws who take the time and energy to do it without curbside pick-up.
Posted by Stephanie Morrill on 20 May 2010
My guilt is more over the fact that I feel like I should be recycling, but don’t. Largely because it’s all I can do to get the stuff into one can—if I had to peel labels off and stuff it would probably end up sitting on the counter for a month.
Posted by Roseanna White on 20 May 2010