My local "Rubbish Coordinator"

I have been tweaking this thought for a while.. It started a few months back while  I was watching an episode of "Undercover Boss", the CEO of "Rumpke Trash Service" was  undercover in the management part of his operation and wasn't he grand helping the office workers get better educated and more money.. why yes, yes he was.. they were deserving that is true....But.. and here it is folks...

These men who drive the trucks around our neighborhood work like slaves.. and I may add, wage slaves.
You may say.. well "It is their own fault, they applied and got the job with this company",  and "they are lucky to have a job" both statements would be true.  But have you seen the conditions in which they work??

Wait a minute, I am getting ahead of myself.. Just so ya know.."I Do" have first hand knowledge of  Trash Collectors and the conditions in which they work.. My Father, Robert Lee Cline started as a groundsman and then a driver for our city way back in the 60's, and worked this job till his heart said you must retire.
Back then there were a driver and 2, count them 2 groundsmen, Both guys on the ground working equally hard, as the driver stayed a step ahead so the harmonious action could continue all through the neighborhood. They worked through the rain, the snow, and whatever else Mother Nature placed upon them.

These days it is a sad state of affairs for the Trash man.. He is a crew of 1, that's right you heard me 1.
He pulls up, jumps out, loads our trash, jumps back in, pulls the truck up, jumps out..  I guess you get the idea.. he does this all day, in all types of weather by himself with NO help from anyone.

This morning I stopped our guy after he had been around the block and thanked him for his service and for picking up the furniture I had put out (I offered it on Freecycle.org  first, but no takers..Stop Charlotte that is another blog) last night with the help of my brother and our friend, both big strong guys . It was a very heavy solid couch and our "Trash Dude" lifted it and a chair by himself!! I am both amazed and appalled by this..

He was grateful for my appreciation as I was him.. later as he drove around the block continuing on his route, he honked and threw up his hand.. In which I promptly acknowledged and waved eagerly back..

I am not posting this to toot my own horn, for being polite or appreciative is something I hope everyone still does, but to bring the sad state of affairs this country has come too into light.. Were 3 men efficiently did a job that is of great and valuable service to us all, now one lone man bares' the weight of this task solely on his shoulders.
Where has common sense and consideration for our fellow man went too??

Dear Mister CEO.. please look outside your office window and see the thousands of hard working men and women who are really getting their hands dirty.. without them where would be?

"Crazy Aunt Bertha"

"Crazy Aunt Bertha" we all have one, somewhere deep in our families, the one you may only see during the holidays, the one you will know to have a controversial comment before the day is over...Her opinion will be varied on everything depending on the clarity of her mind or how many eggnog's she has sipped over in the corner. 

 Aunts go by many a name, "Sally", "Edna" or maybe "Charlotte"... Yes it is true ...I have become your Crazy Aunt.

I don't know when it happened, if it was gradual or it came on sudden like a cold after the first sneeze, But none the less it's here and it's not going away.. My very opinionated self has arrived!

I never set out to have an opinion or thought about anyone or anything that didn't directly effect me, as being and old hippie I believe in live and let live, but last month my ex mother in law passed away and I was told of something she had said, and it goes something like this " If you don't speak up when you see a wrong happening, it is like you are condoning it".  This statement change my life. 

Maybe I had been slowly creeping up to that day or it just turned on the switch.. whichever I'll never know..But now, because of it, I will have to use my voice to right the wrongs, that I see as Unjust, Unkind and Unfair.

I don't ever want to be negative or even the voice of reason, I only want to bring to light what others maybe missing, Trying to keep it in a positive perspective, I am sure you know, going into this my perspective will be tainted as it is being filtered by my life experience and education.. so take it with a grain of salt, chew on it for a bit and arrive at your own conclusions.

Aunty Charlotte