What a start to my day.Waste Management has been sending trucks to empty our condo complex's dumpsters lately as early as 4:00 a.m. -- a clear violation of metro noise ordinances. There's no quiet way to empty a half-dozen dumpsters, and the 110dB back-up beeper doesn't help a whole lot, either. Calls to WM have gone unheeded.
At 4:50 this morning, they were back. I got out of bed, grabbed my keys, helmet and cellphone, and decided to go have a talk with the bastards who want to wake me up at this ungodly hour.
Well, the guy didn't want to talk, so I blocked his path with my scooter, and called the cops. He had some choice words for me, even while I was on the phone with the police dispatcher (who advised me to put some distance between me and the driver, and to call 9-1-1 if violence was threatened). Within a few minutes, a small gathering of my neighbors had come out to see what was going on... none of them happy with these early morning trash pickups, of course.
About 5:55, the cops had still not arrived, but WM's operations manager, Troy Dickson, had arrived. The corporate spin was masterful -- "Oh, we have to walk a fine line between the ordinances and the public's safety... kids going to school, people hurriedly backing out of driveways, without coffee and late for work, etc." I'm sure WM has made great strides in reducing accidents, as Mr. Dickson claimed... but I suspect that some multi-million dollar settlements and rising insurance premiums have had more to do with that than concern for public safety. After all, why else would you be sending a guy out at 4 a.m. to collect the trash? Because of the bottom line, you know they've cut their workforce, and are making these guys work longer hours, starting earlier and earlier every week.
After nearly an hour, and still no cops, Mr. Dickson convinced me that this would not happen again (and seeing as how the driver had told him that I had used racial slurs -- uh, no -- the implication was clear that that would figure into any police report... not that it matters, but seeing as how the goal was simply to get WM to STOP coming so early...), and gave me his cellphone number, card, etc. I figure if WM can roll a salaried guy out before 6:00 a.m., maybe the point has been made. If not, it's sure gonna be ugly, next time.
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