2002-10-09

Trash Night

Robert DeNiro's waiting. And � why yes � he is talking Italian.

So I did a little redecorating. What do you think, chickens?

It's trash night. I bring this up only because it's been a sore spot for months and months. Let me elaborate: there are six units in our building. There are two people living in each unit. Of the 12 of us, at least 9 do not seem to realize that in order for the trash to be taken away, the barrels must be physically moved from the alley to the curb. Clearly my neighbors know enough to put their trash in the barrels; some of them produce astonishing amounts of garbage on a weekly basis. No, the problem seems to be that once the trash has left the confines of their apartments, most of my neighbors come down with a nasty case of Not My Problem�.

I have come home as late as the wee hours of Thursday morning, and the barrels are still in the alley. One night, two of my neighbors sat on their stoop and WATCHED ME drag all of the barrels out. It makes me crazy.

One night, Tom was driving me home from practice, and as we neared the top of the hill just before the house, I started craning my neck, scanning the curb for the barrels. Tom, of course, already knew what I was doing, since I've been known of a Wednesday evening to spend at least ten minutes fuming behind my drumkit about it, speculating on my neighbor's seemingly exaggerated senses of entitlement as represented by their steadfast refusal to take their own goddamn fucking trash out.

"Lees, you really need to just let this go. I mean, just take the friggin' barrels out yourself."

"But that's my POINT!" I wailed, "I'm always taking them out myself!"

Recently, though, the landlord bought six new barrels, painting the apartment numbers on each one, and sending us all notes indicating that each tenant was responsible for his or her barrel. That first Wednesday, I gleefully dragged our barrel � and our barrel only � out to the curb. I literally could not wait to leave the apartment the following morning to note which of my neighbors didn't follow suit.

But then of course, obsessive compulsive recovering addict that I am, I started worrying that those who hadn't taken their trash out would then use OUR nice EMPTY barrel for the overflow.

Really, I'm my own worst enemy.

lisamcc at 12:41 p.m.

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