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I feel a little sorry for Flintshire Council's refuse collection department, so I do
For three weeks now, our black wheelie bins and recycling waste has been left on the side of the road and for three weeks the residents of the five houses in our little part of the village have been turning from Doris Day's into Joan Crawford's in our telephoned efforts to get a spotty teen in a white van to pick up a hundred weight of cans,plastic bottles and the other irritating flotsam of our  throwaway modern world.
Our usual morose bin man has not been seen for three weeks now....the local gossip has suggested that he has been fired so that cheaper, European workers could be brought in to do the work!....I suspect he is actually on holiday in the South of France....well I hope he is anyway....a bit of relaxation would do him the world of good,.....I have never seen him smile once in the  years he has been collecting.....


Collecting the crap from 152 thousand people from a predominantly rural country must be a logistical nightmare, especially given all those corporate promises of good service have been splashed over every part of the local government websites and literature "ad nauseam ".......
Cock ups will happen from time to time they are bound to...and in many ways I would prefer the email answer of
 "oh bloody hell.... a guy will collect all of your shite when he get's around to it...OK?????...get a life and chill out a little"
instead of the more usual corporate speak 
"Your request will be carried out within 48 hours..we endeavour to provide a quality service"
In the meantime....I will play the "game" and will continue to sound like a pissed off Joan Crawford on the other end of a phone!

27 comments:

  1. Fancy just leaving it all lying there without giving you any updates. I am delighted at the moment that our local - country - school has brought in a skip for people to deposit scrap metal in: a fund-raiser for the school and a service to the community.

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  2. Yes, but do you dress like her when the calls are made?

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  3. You might be better off with Eastern Europeans doing the job. They'd probably take it all home, sort it out, and make a whopping profit from it on top of their salaries!

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  4. everyone's comments so far made me chuckle.

    We are lucky with our garbage pickup and the guys that do it as super.

    Gill in Canada

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  5. The paperwork and nonsense these days is unbelievable - it was so much easier when we used to bury it in our own landfill in GB rather than export it to be buried in the far east! Remember the days of tin dustbins and dustbinmen who would fetch it from your backyard and then return it? Now they fine you if your serial-number camera-laden wheelie bin is at the roadside for more than thirty minutes. Collective twerps.

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  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  7. Owl Wood makes a good point. How is it that once upon a time one tin dustbin would be big enough for the detritus of a family of six, but now we need wheelie bins of green, black, blue and brown to do the same job?

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  8. Why is there a photo of my aunt Lilly on this post?
    Jane x

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  9. Now I bet you wish it wasn't so hot and sunny making all that rubbish smell...keep up with the impersonation

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  10. You've been a bit heavy handed with the make up there John!

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  11. Sweetheart, the scarf does not go with the blouse. But, you're doing much better with your make-up!

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  12. Here, most everyone takes their own trash and recyclables to the dump. At my previous location, the municipalities wanted you to pay for trash removal and recycle pickup.

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  13. megan
    we do pay in whats called our council tax!

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  14. We have morose binmen too. Are they peculiar to north Wales. Always had friendly ones elsewhere. Ours actually go out of their way to empty bins, boxes etc and throw them outside another house!

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  15. I suggest a chain gang. I'd love to hear you do Joan Crawford - video please

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  16. Our trash service is so eager to please they drive an ATV up a steep hill to one township resident. I'll give you their number.

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  17. I always get utterly fed up before the call has got to the end if 'if you wish to talk about so and so press one, and so in' - I no longer use the telephone. I would rather write an irate letter, at least it gets it off my chest.

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  18. Our 'unsung heroes' these guys and gals(?) are who collect our garbage!! You better watch it John if you show up some day looking like Ms.Crawford! These guys may never return!!

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  19. The lads that collect my recycling seem pleasant enough, I am under Flintshire also. I shall have a good look on Wednesday.

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  20. Reminds me of a story one of the doctors I used to work with told me. Years ago, there was a big garbage collector's strike in New York City, and as you can imagine in a city of that size, mountains of smelly garbage swarming with flies lined the streets. So, he and a friend put the garbage from their apartment, loaded it into a big box, wrapped it, and tied it with a big fancy bow. Then they left it in their car, their unlocked car. Didn't take long at all for their package to disappear... and to become someone else's problem.

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  21. Try withholding your council tax, and you will get a visit in a trice - from a Northamptonshire bailiff.

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  22. This has nothing to do with garbage, but this morning I happened to be in an establishment that had a TV running in the background. The morning news men were discussing proper attire for the Olympics. They had been told to upgrade their on-air clothing because "Englishmen are more distinguished, they dress better than Americans." I thought of you.

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  23. Thanks Jan ( I think!) tee hee

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  24. Garbage services here seem to have become more expensive and work less effectively.
    May you not drown in waste.

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  25. I wouldn't be surprised if he had been fired. As you say though, one would hope not.

    Hope the pick-up gets caught up!

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  26. I'd be morose too if my job was to pick up waste. Wait a minute, it is!

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  27. The bin emptying hasn't been outsourced to G4S by any chance?

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