Is that sanitary?

Apparently our sanitation workers here in Pleasant Grove go above and beyond. Even with our automated trucks with the arms that pick up the cans, I just watched our friendly neighborhood garbage man climb up on the truck and into the trash.

I'll tell the story mostly because it's something I've never seen before and don't know that I'll see again.

We have two garbage cans. With four adults and two children, we really need both. Last week I didn't get the cans out in time because the truck came earlier than usual. We have filled our cans, both the outside and the inside ones full to bursting this week, so I took the big cans out to the street yesterday afternoon to be sure they got emptied today. When I heard the truck this morning I wanted to be sure he turned around and picked up our trash so I could call soon if he didn't.

I don't know if I put the cans down too close together or if the garbage man was just trying to save time, but he used the arm to pick up both cans at the same time. Since I have never seen this technique used before, I can only assume that this was standard Utah County procedure. Everything was going fine until they were on their way down. One can kind of slipped out of the arm and fell into the street on the other side of the truck while the other fell directly into the garbage.

I watched as the driver assessed the situation from the cozy seat of his truck looking into the side mirrors. Being unfamiliar with how this situation should be handled, I wondered if he was considering simply driving off with one can in the street and the other in the truck, but his conscience must have won because he slowly pulled on his winter gloves and exited the truck.

He walked around to the other side and picked up the can that had fallen into the street. He placed it back by the curb and took his time making sure it was exactly where he wanted it. Then he took a deep breath and proceeded to climb the ladder into the truck. Maybe this does happen a lot. They do have a ladder after all. Since the can was still full of trash, he had to unload it before he could get it out. It took a couple of minutes, but finally I saw the can being thrown out the back of the truck and into the snow. He climbed back down and again took his time placing the receptacle. After making sure both cans were standing upright with the lids closed, our trash collector climbed in his truck and drove away. If I hadn't have watched it, I never would have known what my poor cans went through this morning. And after watching all of it take place, I am certain the garbage man is on salary.