adminContinued from last week…………….
MEN and women were at work in the depot even though it was so early in the morning. Everybody was yelling and the truck engines were loud, but they seemed to be having a good time. Garbage men and garbage women came over to say hello to Jodie. They said her father was a nice guy.
Big Al was Jodie’s daddy’s partner. He drove the truck. Big Al, as his name implied, was big. He had an unlit cigar in the side of his mouth, didn’t say much.
Jodie’s father handed her a thick pair of gloves.
“We’re going to ride in back today, Jodie. The thing to remember is . . . hold on tight. Big Al will go slowly, but you have to hang on until he stops. If you’re scared, tell me. Then I’ll drive instead and you can ride up front with me.”
Jodie said, “I’m not scared,” but she was, just a little.
Jodie held on tight. She held on so tight she almost didn’t notice the smell of sour, rotten oranges, lemons, banana peels and coffee grounds coming from the back of the garbage truck. They rode nearly twenty blocks before the first stop. Jodie watched cars, people and trees shoot by. She looked up at buildings and the early morning blue sky.
Big Al stopped the truck. Jodie and her daddy jumped off. On the curb was a big pile of plastic bags full to bursting with foul, reeking garbage, metal garbage cans with the lids barely on. “I’ll get the big stuff, Jodie. You get the little plastic bags and throw them in the truck hard as you can. I mean really throw them.”
Jodie’s daddy was strong. He picked up garbage bags that looked like they weighed 500 pounds and tossed them into the garbage truck like nothing. He hoisted garbage cans, shook and slammed them against the back of the truck until they were empty. She heard bottles crash, tin cans crunch. The garbage truck took and gobbled garbage. Pretty soon no more garbage was left. Jodie helped put the garbage cans back where they belonged, then she and her daddy grabbed the iron rails on the back of the truck and they took off again.
Big Al drove slowly, as promised, but as soon as Jodie and her daddy hit the ground everything went fast.
At one stop, Jodie’s dad held up a sagging gray garbage bag. “Hey Jodie, feel this. It’s totally gross.”
Jodie gave the bag a squeeze. Something inside was oh-so-squishy. “Ew! Feels like overcooked spaghetti! Lots and lots of overcooked spaghetti. What is it, daddy?”
“Ah…we’ll never know, will we? All part of the mystery of garbage, honey.” He threw the garbage bag into the truck and the truck snaffled it down, whatever it was.
Picking up garbage and throwing it in the truck was fun, but also hard work. Jodie’s arms got tired. That’s when her daddy said, “Time for lunch.” Big Al honked the horn and headed for the diner.
“Wash your hands extra carefully, Jodie,” her daddy said.
Jodie had a cheeseburger and a vanilla milkshake. She thought it was fun to eat lunch at ten o’ clock in the morning.
Big Al and Jodie’s dad had coffee and then it was time to get back to work. Jodie couldn’t believe how much dirty, filthy garbage fit in the truck. Finally it was full.
“Time to hit the dump,” Jodie’s dad yelled.
Big Al honked the horn again. Off they went. The dump was way out of town. Big Al drove faster. Jodie held on tight. She was excited to see the world race by, the road whizzing along under her feet.
The garbage dump was huge. You could smell it from a mile away. They drove through a gate in a big chain-link fence. Jodie wondered why there was a fence. Who steals garbage?
Seagulls flew all over the dump. They screamed, cawed and fought, in the air and on the ground. They found stuff to eat at the garbage dump. The fence couldn’t keep them away.
Jodie and her daddy got off and watched Big Al drive the truck to the top of the garbage heap.
Big Al got out, took the cigar butt out of his mouth and yelled, “Hey Jodie! C’mon up here! How’d you like to dump garbage today?”
Jodie got to sit in the driver’s seat. Big Al showed her which buttons to push. The back of the truck rose until the garbage spilled out. Jodie pulled the cord to honk the horn. Seagulls flew away screaming.
When the truck was empty, Big Al took over. He and Jodie drove down the garbage heap again. Jodie and her dad rode in the front with him on the way back to town. Jodie was tired but happy.
“Now comes the best part of the job, Jodie. While almost everyone else is still working, I get to go home, clean myself up, give your mother a big kiss…and then I get to come pick you up at school every ding-dong day. That’s mainly why I like being a garbage man so much.”
Jodie gave her dirty, smelly garbage man daddy a big kiss. She said, “When I grow up, I want to be a garbage man too. Just like you and Big Al.”
Jodie’s daddy said, “There’s plenty of time to decide, Jodie. We can talk about it later.”
Big Al took the cigar out of his mouth. “You’re a nice little girl, Jodie. I wish I had a daughter like you.” When they got back to the depot, Jodie gave him a kiss too.
Whenever someone asks Jodie what her daddy does for a living, she says, “He’s a garbage man!” And if they say “Ew!” she says, “Everybody makes garbage, but my daddy takes it all away.”
Online Reporter