January 3, 2006
Talkin' Trash
I resolve in 2006 to figure out how the trash business works. I have a Tuesday pickup, but if Monday is a holiday, it's bumped to Wed. I assume they pay double time on Saturday to make up, but why not pay more on the day and keep the schedule? Where does the extra day come from?
Plus, you never know if you'll be bumped or not. I was surprised when they showed up on the right day after Christmas; now they have not showed after New Year. From this I conclude that my trash is picked up by godless, heathen party animals...
I don't mind, I just don't get it -- anybody know how this works?
Posted by jk at January 3, 2006 12:24 PM
Having observed this precise sequence of events myself, I too tried to figure out the mystery. Since I was in Seattle when I received the "your pickup is delayed one day due to the holiday" message, I asked my mother-in-law if their trash is delayed one day after a holiday and she said, "No."
But they have municipal (read: government funded) trash service. My guess is that they only work about half a day all year long, and on the day after holidays they work a full 8 hours to catch up. (Sure it's a hell of a workload but hey, they're professionals!)
As for the scheduling of private, for-profit waste disposers I can only file it among the great mysteries of the universe. Like... "How can the people we hire to teach our children be, all too often, Complete Blithering Idiots?" (CBI is my term for 21st century Marxists.)
Having observed this precise sequence of events myself, I too tried to figure out the mystery. Since I was in Seattle when I received the "your pickup is delayed one day due to the holiday" message, I asked my mother-in-law if their trash is delayed one day after a holiday and she said, "No."
But they have municipal (read: government funded) trash service. My guess is that they only work about half a day all year long, and on the day after holidays they work a full 8 hours to catch up. (Sure it's a hell of a workload but hey, they're professionals!)
As for the scheduling of private, for-profit waste disposers I can only file it among the great mysteries of the universe. Like... "How can the people we hire to teach our children be, all too often, Complete Blithering Idiots?" (CBI is my term for 21st century Marxists.)
Posted by: johngalt at January 4, 2006 1:08 AMJohn Galt is precisly correct. When you pick up your route's trash and drop it off, you're done. It's an incentive to get done. So instead of doing the regular route, they do yesterday's as well.
Works the same with the post-office. It's not like pizza-delivery. You don't go deliver more mail because you're done your last batch.
You get your batch.
Posted by: AlexC at January 4, 2006 7:32 PM | What do you think? [2]