Garbage In, Garbage Out: a Thank You for Good Service

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Jean Godden
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Dear Mr. Sanitation Guy,

This is a valentine – written to thank you for your faithful service and to let you know that we – the people you seldom see — appreciate you and your good work.

Seattle recently has been a trash-free island in a sea of distress. In nearby suburban towns and cities (Bellevue, Lynnwood, Kent, and Edmonds among them), there was no garbage service for days. The Teamsters Union was striking and without workers there was no suburban service.

Fortunately for the burbs that dispute has since been settled. But in the days prior, garbage piled up in suburban homes creating possible health and safety hazards. Carloads of homeowners seeking to deposit accumulating trash at pickup sites sat idling in lengthy lines.

As I watched TV news clips of the suburban misery, I couldn’t help thanking my lucky stars that I was not forced to join those endless lines. It gave me a chance to reflect on how often we take for granted your service.

https://www.postalley.org/2025/07/27/garbage-in-garbage-out-a-thank-you-for-good-service/

[SWBTATTReg]

1. I am just amazed that some let their trash build up to such a large level to get to this much of a mess.

Like in all cities there are some who don't really separate, or compact their trash, and just willy nilly throw it out lazily, w/o any sort of control or compaction. It happens here too (STLMO) and I do get disturbed when I see this happen. Especially in those areas where we all share a trash bin in our alleys for multiple houses/tenants. And there are separate bins for each sort of trash, glass, paper, etc.

I don't know how many times I have to pull out cardboard boxes and break them down before putting them back in (or moving to the other appropriate recycle bin instead). Glassware and such, the same.

Oh well, one step at a time. We do have a number we can call for trash abusers, but that does seem to work well at all.