Garbage Ninjas

pt. 3 of 3
Continued from previous post: Through the Labyrynth

Thus began the waiting game.

OK, anyone who has ever moved knows that there is a LOT of packing and boxes involved. So for the following 2 weeks we unpacked dishes, furniture, kitchen gadgets, trinkets, and boat loads of other home stuff amassing a huge pile of used boxes, packing materials (bubble wrap, newspapers, etc.), and daily living garbage. The pile filled more than 1/2 of my  kitchen.

7-10 business days came and went without incident... and no garbage can. The rubbish pile was definitely growing to consume part of the dining room as well as 2 garbage cans outside our kitchen door. We had decided to compost our kitchen refuse as well as most of the boxes, but the pile still grew.

At the end of the 3rd week, I called the company. As kind as I could, I told the lady that I was STILL waiting to receive a trash can and wanted to know the reason for the delay. She apologized for the inconvenience and told me she'd have to contact the guy in charge of my route and would have to get back to me.

By the next morning, I realized that I had never heard back from that lady at the garbage company, so I did what anyone would do: I called back. The office apparently closes for the weekend, so I had to remember to call back Monday, which I did promptly at 8:00 am.

The girl I spoke to told me that the lady I had been speaking with is no longer part of the company and asked if she could help me. Yes! I explained that it had now been 3 ½ weeks and I still had no garbage can and what do they suggest for the mountain of garbage I have growing and taking over my house as I unpack from moving.

She took down my name and number and told me that she'd get to the bottom of this because she couldn't see how we'd gone so long without trash pick up. She told me she'd call the route supervisor and call me back. A few hours later, my phone rang and the kind trash lady let me know that there had been a shortage of trash bins, but that I should have mine by the end of the week. I thanked her, but I was still reticent to believe that company. So, I woke up and called the trash company every morning to check in and make sure everything was still set for me to get my trash bin. The rest of the week came & went... No trash bin.

I got tired of having so much garbage collecting about the place, so that Friday night, Hubby and I filled up the 2 big garbage pails we had, loaded them into my car and drove into town looking for available space in dumpsters behind grocery stores. Once we found one that wasn't locked, we unloaded all our garbage into the dumpster and went home trash-less and accomplished. We were Garbage Ninjas that night, rescuing our home from the invading hordes of rubbish. Boy do we know how to have fun, or what?

Monday, during my morning call to the trash company, the girl-who now knew me by voice and greeted me by name- told me that it was absolutely ridiculous at how long it was taking to get my trash bin to me. I agreed and insisted that since I had paid for trash services for 3 months and it was taking more then a month to get the bin to me, that I shouldn't be charged for the month I was without trash services. She agreed and credited my account. Whew! That settled, we moved on to the bin. She told me she was going to call in a few favors and see if she could get our bin to us.

That afternoon, a pickup truck meandered through the field towards the house like a shining knight pushing straight towards me on the dirt driveway. The truck stopped in front of the garden where I was working and asked if he was at the right place. I asked why and he unloaded a huge garbage bin from the back of the truck. He explained that he came from the next county over because ours was having such a hard time finding a trash bin to give to us. Then he told us when our trash collection day was and headed out. My garbage bin had arrived! …and I was trashless.

As a side note, the following trash day, we brought the bin to the street (a good 1/2 mile walk from the house) and there, in it's shining plastic-ness was another bin, waiting for us. I guess our county finally found us a trash bin and just decided to leave it by the road for us. Will wonders never cease?