Sunday, July 08, 2007

You Can Smell the Fear. You Can Smell Something.

Oakland, like many East Bay communities, contracts with an outside company to pick up its garbage, its lawn clippings and its recyclables. That company has locked out its drivers in a wage and benefits disputes. Stuff hasn't started to pile up yet. Stuff will.

The fabric of civilization is thin. You can feel how thin it is. No, that's wrong. Just a little rip and you can smell -- by inference -- how thin it is.

So on Monday I will call Oakland city hall and urge the city to pressure the garbage company to compromise, to take back less from its workers than the company is insisting upon.

Hauling garbage is a lousy job. Putting waste and residue in our own little garbage cans is just so damn unpleasant and inconveenient. When we moved here 16 years ago, each garbage truck had at least two guys, one to drive and one or two picking up the trash. Now one guy does the whole thing, and he *hustles* his way, at least thr0ugh our neighborhood.

Muzzle not the oxen that treadeth out the corn -- or in this case pick up after those oxen. I'm willing to pay a little more.

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