Shred any document with personal information prior to throwing it out.
Just do it!
Husband tells me this all the time, and usually I do, but sometimes I say to myself: Sure, like someone's going to sift through my garbage and find the crumpled up paper I threw in the bag along with chicken bones, vegetable peelings and pot scrapings?
Then today I watched a guy in a truck stop by everyone's garbage (piled on the curb waiting for the real garbage men) examine and then select the finest bags of garbage which he then put into his truck and drove off.
If it wasn't raining and if I wasn't scantilly clad, I might have gone up to him and asked him just what in hell he was doing. But I didn't and I watched him cart off one of MY garbage bags and abscond with it. (By mistake, husband once came home with see-through garbage bags that have to be the dumbest idea in product design that I've ever heard of...who wants to look at it? But my bag was white and although slightly transparent, I doubt he could tell what I'd thrown out.)
Then I tried to reconstruct the previous 24 hours to come up with the possible contents of that bag. I don't know what he might have carted away.
I couldn't think of much I put in the garbage yesterday. Coffee grounds for sure, one cream container, one empty box of Milkbones dog biscuits, 1/2 dozen Fancy Feast cans, one egg shell, six pieces of junk mail, two catalogs, used tissues and paper towels, one grapefruit rind, 4 ounces of dog hair, envelopes from some bills (no inside stuff), contents of two dumped ashtrays, one old stinky sponge, one microfiber dusting cloth (used) and the unknown foods from two bowls I found way back in the refrigerator that were so old I have no idea what they originally were, but looked like road kill sauteed with onions.
So what do you think he's going to do with this stuff?
Make cat food?
Study packaging of popular pet food?
Test the unknown foods for Ecoli?
Spin the dog hair into a pashima like shawl?
Use the filters to mix with alcohol to make a substance that resembles male ejaculate? (Ever do that trick?)
Or was it the catalogs he wanted, god knows how hard it is to acquire a catalog.
If Larry Birkhead hadn't been proved to be Danielynn's father, I'd be suspecting him for collecting our DNA to see if husband or I am the real father, but I doubt that now.
So what in hell was it that made him take my garbage????
Just do it!
Husband tells me this all the time, and usually I do, but sometimes I say to myself: Sure, like someone's going to sift through my garbage and find the crumpled up paper I threw in the bag along with chicken bones, vegetable peelings and pot scrapings?
Then today I watched a guy in a truck stop by everyone's garbage (piled on the curb waiting for the real garbage men) examine and then select the finest bags of garbage which he then put into his truck and drove off.
If it wasn't raining and if I wasn't scantilly clad, I might have gone up to him and asked him just what in hell he was doing. But I didn't and I watched him cart off one of MY garbage bags and abscond with it. (By mistake, husband once came home with see-through garbage bags that have to be the dumbest idea in product design that I've ever heard of...who wants to look at it? But my bag was white and although slightly transparent, I doubt he could tell what I'd thrown out.)
Then I tried to reconstruct the previous 24 hours to come up with the possible contents of that bag. I don't know what he might have carted away.
I couldn't think of much I put in the garbage yesterday. Coffee grounds for sure, one cream container, one empty box of Milkbones dog biscuits, 1/2 dozen Fancy Feast cans, one egg shell, six pieces of junk mail, two catalogs, used tissues and paper towels, one grapefruit rind, 4 ounces of dog hair, envelopes from some bills (no inside stuff), contents of two dumped ashtrays, one old stinky sponge, one microfiber dusting cloth (used) and the unknown foods from two bowls I found way back in the refrigerator that were so old I have no idea what they originally were, but looked like road kill sauteed with onions.
So what do you think he's going to do with this stuff?
Make cat food?
Study packaging of popular pet food?
Test the unknown foods for Ecoli?
Spin the dog hair into a pashima like shawl?
Use the filters to mix with alcohol to make a substance that resembles male ejaculate? (Ever do that trick?)
Or was it the catalogs he wanted, god knows how hard it is to acquire a catalog.
If Larry Birkhead hadn't been proved to be Danielynn's father, I'd be suspecting him for collecting our DNA to see if husband or I am the real father, but I doubt that now.
So what in hell was it that made him take my garbage????
posted by mary bishop | 8:04 AM
25 Comments:
4 oz is actually quite a lot of dog hair.
...that's creepy, though. I haven't heard of that one before. I have a neighbor who stops by once in a while when I've put an old chair or trunk or some treasure out on the front lawn for the garbage men to take away...
no one's actually taken an icky old bag of rubbish...if you don't count the many rabid racoons in the neighborhood.
very very creepy...
how old is the truck he drives? (odd question I know, but I wonder if he is someone down on his luck trying to find 'treasures.')There's a guy in our neighborhood who takes old furniture and stuff and has a perpetual garage sale at his place. Keeps him entertained in his retirement i guess. (and i've bought stuff from there myself.) OR, maybe he's looking for organics to compost? (or turn into alternative fuel ala Back to the Future?) Who knows? But you are right - definitely shred personal stuff and cut up those fake Credit cards they send you to get you to apply etc.
I am a garbage collector and think your note is post interesting because I haven't heard of anyone actually taking the garbage bags (expect for us), but know identity theft and people combing through the trash is sometimes an issue.
For what it's worth, there is a housewife on our route who whenever she throws away important stuff or things she doesn't want others to see literally stands at the back of the truck when we throw them in and asks us to press the levers as she stands there (assume you've seen the garbage trucks working before). Ilanna is right about shredding/cutting up important info.
We actually saw her earlier this week when she came out to watch her old couch, tv and bags go in.
LB - 4 oz of dog hair is what I pick off my slippers when I shuffle into the kitchen in the morning ;-)
I have no problem with the junk pickers as I've been known to pull over and grab a cute little table all set to be thrown out..(the shame of it all!) But genuine garbage, geesh!
Ilanna, I had the creepy feeling too -I had nothing but two pails and one white garbage bag from the kitchen garbage pail out...still can't fathom why he'd take that bag.
Hi Anonymous! I'll bet that housewife makes you want to throw her into the truck!!! I promise Anon and Ilanna, I will shred any and all things in the future and I'm also keeping my eye out for the trash thief...!
as zoe goes hobbling by to see what mister is barking at . . . :)
the one lady watching the bags in the truck - that seems a BIT paranoid to me - and truth be told, doesnt' stop someone from going to the dump or land fill to pick through things there. But i can understand her paranoia. I mean - my debit card number was stolen once. I had the card in my possession but someone in California bought about $100 worth of pizza on it in one night. I guess no one bothered to check for the physical card. (one reason I like Domino's they take an imprint to verify) . . . it's a scary world out there...
puppy is doing ok Mary - she is just hobbling a bout cuz she thinks she can't put the bandaged foot down. even though she can. :) another day or so i'lltake it off for her. Vet said 2 days - which is today but with all the rain and mud i think leaving it on a little longer isn't a bad idea...:)
Mary - while a bit frustrating at times, this housewife is actually quite attractive and seems to enjoy watching the truck work, so don't think we'd want to throw her into the hopper with the rest of the garbage.
Ilanna, I guess you could go to the dump, but trust me, once the stuff has been in the truck, it's not easy to identify or find stuff. Do you know what our trucks do to that trash in there?
Anon, if she's cute then you probably don't mind her paranoid ways...ok, don't throw her out, we'll let her live.
:) I hear you, albeit she is paranoid. You ever see the truck compacting the garbage?
I love the compacting, Anon...it's amazing --like a miracle how it can reduce the volume of material to so little from so much.
At one point compactors in kitchens were the rage, wonder what happened to that fad or is it just I don't know anyone with a kitchen compactor.
You know, you're right...I haven't heard of anyone with a kitchen compactor in years.
It is pretty neat the way our trucks just force and squeeze everything -- its 5000 lbs of pressure per square inch. Think the paranoid housewife enjoyed seeing how it took her furniture.
You ever been near the truck when its been crushing or seen your bags or other stuff go?
Yup, not too long ago I rushed out with a couple of Hefty bags of old clothes and knicknacks I was throwing out...I watched them go in and watched them get scrunched.
I'm a fan of machinery.
:) Guess the back of the truck was full when you brought your last bags up. Heard the crunching and bursting of the bags in there as they were pressed in, huh. Did the garbage men say anything to you as you watched it?
Bet you'd like to see how it takes furniture. It's funny, we do get some women on the route who stop to watch it and others who run the other way from the truck. To us, that's the fun part of the job and to be honest we are always amazed at how much stuff some houses put out.
The whole crushing thing scares me. It's very powerful and I'm afraid of being so close I get caught up and pulled in. eeeek.
I also feel sad when something of mine gets crushed. I feel badly for it. Like I've killed it and it knows it.
But, hey, you took a couch and TV? Dang! What part of the globe does that? I'd love it if my guys would do that for me. I have to drag that stuff to the dump myself and pay for the opportunity at that.
It'd be one hell of a Holiday tip for them if they were as good as the rubbish collector posting here!
Do you think my guys get mad when I run out with "Just one more thing, fellas!" ;)
LB, my guys never refuse refuse. If I can drag a couch to the side of the road, they'll take it!
Anon, I don't know where my stuff comes from but I've got lots and I'm not afraid of the truck at all.
Garbage men said You're Welcome, to my Thank You. That's it!
Lauren, it shouldn't scare you, you wouldn't get pulled in unless your in the hopper when we press the lever and I'm quite certain that wouldn't happen.
I am in New York and you name, it we take -- couches, tvs, tables, beds, pianos, bags, tree limbs, etc.
As for your guys, I know that we don't mind if a woman runs a last bag out to the truck as long as she is not obnoxious and doesn't drop it at our feet. If she's attractive, all the better :)
Mary - The thank you is very much appreciated as we don't always get it. I'm curious, do you like the sound of the stuff crushing or the sight?
If you have a big family, I guess you put out a lot of trash.
I just like big trucks! Never thought I'd "trash talk" but it's been fun...!
Bet you'd press the lever to turn on the compactor if given the chance :)
that's good to know because i always throw important (albeit torn up) information into the garbage thinking the same thing, that no one would comb thru that but now i'm not sure. and i guess i'm going to staples to buy a shredder.
You should recycle & compost - most of what you threw away didn't have to go in the garbage :)
We got a shredder and my nieces love to shred our papers. We only shred the parts of mail with names and addresses or account numbers on them.
AMk, as a roller derby gal, sure you'd come here for trash talk ;-)
AMK and Sheryl, I have a shredder, and use it "most" of the time...AMK if you're getting one get the kind that shreds credit cards, only a few bucks more.
Sheryl, believe it or not, we have rats in our manicured lawn, 1/2 acre (or less) per person neighborhood.
One and only one person is raising pigeons or chickens or something in his yard on the next street and the health department is on his case, but advised NO compost pile.
Rats! Now you all know.
4 ounces of dog hair? Did you actually weight it? ;-)
I've been talking about getting a shredder for a long time. We throw out things we ought not. We rip things up, but then its just a puzzle.
This post you wrote is and should be an inspiration for anyone to run out and get a shredder! RUN FAST!
Lawbrat, I could sell animal hair by the pound. I'm not kidding. I have fussy overnight guests coming soon and I'm trying to defur the place, but it took me half a day to do the stairs!
Shredders are necessary in today's world, now we have to get the people, like me, to use them religiously.
Homeland security at its finest.
Gavin...don't you hate it when your credit card company sends you checks with all your vital info when you haven't asked for them, never used them but now have to shred or disfigure, spindle or mutilate them prior to throwing them out?
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