Have you hugged a Garbage man lately?
The other day, I had a major crisis–of unbelievable proportions. But today, I am a changed person because I realized something…
I had gone upstairs at our office/student housing (fondly referred to as the ‘Picton’ because it used to be a trashy bar called ‘The Picton Tavern’ and is located on Picton street. I guess the name just stuck and we all now shorten it to ‘the Pic’–this is all another story for another time) and when I got to the kitchen, I was accosted by a nasty, psycho, kamakaze swarm of fruit flies. These suckers were on a mission, and it was clear to me that their mission was to make my life miserable. In case you were wondering, fruit flies don’t just hang around because they are looking for a great party; they come around because there is garbage that has slipped past everyone’s attention but theirs. And these particular fruit flies were focused and savage! They wanted everything and they weren’t going to stop until they got it! I soon realized that the source of their fruitfly-ness was the obscene amounts of garbage that was left from the Christmas break and general neglect from whoever was staying in our housing at the time…clearly not cool. In fact, it was so not cool because of what it left me with: the job of picking up gross, disgusting garbage that had had a 3 week head-start on me. Diane, one of our staff, came up to help me, and then, in a total horror-movie moment (I swear to you that we heard the Freddie Krueger music in the background!), we opened up the door and realized that there were another 20+ bags outside, laying all over, just inviting the neighbourhood dogs, cats, rats, whatever to come on over and party at the Picton…awesome…Did I mention that I decided to wear my new shirt that day, my cool white hat, and my skirt with heels…all so that I could take care of gross, rotting garbage and karate chop the fruit flies? Well, I did…
At first, I thought about how unfair it was for me and Diane to have to clean up everyone else’s mess and neglect. I mean, after all, how did this suddenly become my problem? And then I thought of how gross rotting garbage smells. And then… I remembered what the garbage dump smelled like where I had spent this past summer on Hero Holiday. It was there that my life was changed forever; where I met incredibly brave and resilient men, women, and children who had no choice but to make it their livelihood to live,work, and breathe in that stench every single day of their lives. I wonder if they ever think that it is unfair that they are stuck with the garbage, and that someone else’s choices, directly or indirectly, has left them in the place where they now find themselves?
Today, 5000 kids are going to die from poor sanitation. Tomorrow, 5000 more kids are going to die from poor sanitation. That is just poor sanitation alone, and nothing else like AIDS, malaria, or war…Where does it stop?
One day this past summer, in Dominican Republic, I went out to the garbage dump to bring food to the workers. We brought out some used shoes and other necessities, and from the back of the truck, we did our best to hand out what we could. I can remember desperate mothers pulling on my hand, begging me for more, and young boys, poking at our legs through the sides of the open-back trucks, asking us to please find shoes that fit them. With that, I can remember feeling the hot tears for a moment as they ran down my cheek before I could catch them. What was it that brought about this moment in my life? What did I do to deserve being the one on the truck, handing out the cast-offs from another world, rather than being the one out there, with the desperate dream of somehow getting something to help me survive from day to day? Where is the justice in this?
I was born in Canada, and I was born into a world where I can go anywhere, do anything, and become anyone that I want. My future is just as unsure as the next person, but I still have led a privileged life of luxuries such as food, shoes, clothes and a home. For goodness’ sakes, my garbage gets picked up at my door! Do I think I am above taking out a little bit of garbage? Perhaps, some days when that little nasty side of my ego wants to jump out and be a drama queen, as much as I hate to say it, I really do think I am above it. Wow…that sounds kind of ugly, doesn’t it? I mean, high heels were made for more than just looking good; in fact, they are incredibly functional and practical for day to day moments such as karate chopping fruit flies, taking out the garbage, and getting a little perspective…I highly recommend you give them a try…but it that isn’t your gig (!) at least look at your garbage with a little bit of perspective.
This morning, when the garbage guys were coming down the street, I wanted to jump out and hug them. They do a lot to make my life a lot better. The world needs more people like them. Have you hugged your garbage man lately? I haven’t either, as I am sure that they could possibly get a little weirded out by it, but at least it is the thought that counts…