Garbage Collection as Gift Exchange

I returned home after dropping the kids off at their schools and walking the dog on the trail. I opened the back of the station wagon, and the dog jumped out and ran thirty yards down the driveway to where her tennis ball had rolled after I put her in the car just before we headed on out. Then she ran back up wagging her tail, wanting to play "fetch" with the second most disgusting dog-slobbered tennis ball I had ever seen.

So ten minutes later I was playing fetch with the dog when I saw a man walking down the road. He came to a stop at my next door neighbor's driveway, grabbed their thrown-out Christmas tree by its base, and started dragging it up the road. I put the leash on the dog and walked down to figure out what was going on. Light dawned: "You're the trash collector," I said.

"Yes," he said.

"You're dragging that Christmas tree up to the main road," I said.

"Yes," he said.

"It's two-tenths of a mile, and 120 feet uphill," I said.

"Yes," he said. "I have the big truck. Bringing the big truck down here wouldn't be good for this one-and-half-lane road at all."

"This is much more than they pay you for," I said. He shrugged.

"Here, let me help," I said. I grabbed the other Christmas tree, and together we dragged them two-tenths of a mile up 120 vertical feet of hill to the main road.

Posted by DeLong at January 16, 2003 12:36 PM | Trackback