Before posting another more “botanical” entry, I felt compelled to share an experience I had this morning. I personally think that transferring contents from one container to another should, in general, be a rather simple, relatively quiet process if done correctly (unless glass is involved). I learned this morning that the transfer of garbage from dumpster to truck is not always one of those processes. Granted, this may be well known by many people, but it is new to me because I have never lived this close to a dumpster before. Not that I am living in a lean-to against a dumpster, but my just-moved-into apartment is above the parking garage where it is located. At about 6:00am, I heard a very loud beeping noise (truck backing into position) followed by a startlingly loud hydraulic hum (the truck's "arms" lowering). The garbage truck’s arms fumble clumsily for their point of attachment, as I am thinking one of my neighbors on the second floor is forcefully introducing a collection of old appliances to the ground level parking surface. Still in a dream-like state, I hear another loud hydraulic hum (undoubtedly the raising of the dumpster); sounding much like one of the cars downstairs is turning into a Transformer. In a few seconds, it seems as though the Transformer is smashing all the other cars in the parking garage to smithereens, but as I further gain consciousness, I realize this may actually be the garbage truck operator smashing the dumpster against the truck to ensure that every last napkin falls out, which although noisy, is certainly admirably thorough. Another hum precedes the grand finale as it sounds like the dumpster falls off the dump truck’s hooks at about ten feet above the concrete…
I can confidently say I’ve never experienced a more effective early-morning alarm.
Rick Hederstrom
Associate Director
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