Trash and the new people

One tell a tale sign of a new neighbor, should the movements of a house absolutely escape us, is trash.
If you have a big alley, your trash tends to get picked up in the rear of the house. If you have a small (too small for a truck) alley or no alley your trash tends to get picked up in the front. And if you are in a multi-unit building your trash might get picked up by a private contractor.
So when you dump your bags of trash onto the sidewalk, where it awaits the cats, squirrels, and birds to put holes in them, you have revealed that you are new. I’m waiting to see if one of your closer neighbors is going to pin a sign on your pile of trash informing you of the proper trash disposal. Like they did the last time a new person set out trash on the sidewalk.

6 thoughts on “Trash and the new people”

  1. On a listserv someone was complaining about law students at 1209? NJ Ave dumping trash incorrectly, which has thusly attracted rats! So it could be a seasonal thing with newbies starting college or just out and haven't figured out trash.

  2. Hope this wasn't me… I had lots of cardboard boxes from my roommate that just moved in and I put them on the curb, but thats what 311 said … whoops

  3. Hope this wasn't us… we have a bulk pickup coming since last Friday and are also really frustrated by the continuing no-shows (despite reasurrances from the city).

  4. I admit I do put my trash bag on the sidewalk, but only in the morning just before pickup. I hate, hate, hate when the trash can is sitting out there all day and people walking by feel free to leave dog poo, fast food waste, and other funky stuff to fester in there.

    When I lived in Dupont that wasn't such an issue because they would empty the entire contents of the trash can into the truck, and leave it upside down on the sidewalk afterwards. In Shaw we get a lower quality of service.

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