Disposal Time-The Junkyard

It was the summer of 2022 and the political scene was becoming increasingly tense.

The police state is at an all-time high with the cops acting as slave drivers and herding hundreds of poor, disabled and mentally ill to their deaths. A political push for a cleaner, supreme race under a communist, republican controlled state was bringing the country to the brink of a civil war. After two government shutdowns, the new pseudo communist government takes control and a civil war ensues. The army and marines begin to take political prisoners and executes them one by one as intimidating and public examples.

As the greater public fell deeper and deeper into increasingly intense pre-civil war, the poor and the disabled were being killed at an alarming rate for nothing more than being poor and disabled. The bodies of those that were being executed were being disposed of as trash. A select few poor and disabled were being used in corporate experiments and a few even were being used in chemical and environmental tests before they are disposed of. Even the prisons were disposing of their death row inmates.

With the churches disbanded and banned from existence after the subsequent repeal of the separation of church and state, the new government was preparing it’s regime for a not-so-welcomed swearing in.

Like the Nazi regime, the new leader allowed the disposal of disabled and unwanted people in the trash, as trash, alive. The trash companies would pull up to the curb or the alley and when a person was being disposed of as trash, people would have to bring their live trash out to the waiting truck on trash day so that the trash men could load them in manually. For those who had dumpsters and cans over 97 gallons, the unwanted people could be loaded into the cans or dumpster and left there a full hour before the truck came to empty the trash. The cans and dumpsters would be locked with the unwanted people and trash in side to prevent the unwanted people from escaping and the only ones with the keys are the person with the dumpster and the trash truck operator.

It was a very warm day in June of 2022 when Charlie and his caregiver received a notice in the mail informing them that Charlie must be disposed of on the next trash pick-up day. Julie had gone out to the mailbox at the curb to check and retrieve the mail and she began to shuffle through the various pieces of mail that she received as she walked back towards the house. As Julie, the caregiver walked through the front door and closed the door, she saw an envelope that was from the new government. Puzzled, she went to Charlie who was in his safety bed and then opened the mail in front of him and began to read it to him.

Caregiver-Julie: Hey Charlie, there is mail here for you….. (Closing the front door and walking back into Charlie’s room to open the mysterious letter)  

Caregiver-Julie: (Opening the envelope and unfolding the letter so she could read it and so Charlie could be informed of what it said) “To whom this may concern, this is a letter to inform any and all caregivers of Charlie Mason that as of Tuesday June 7, 2022, Charlie is the sole property of D & D Disposal Inc.  We will be sending two of our own caregivers to make sure all articles are disposed of properly. Our Caregivers will be there on June 8, 2022. Please have any and all clothing and any articles belonging to Charlie, as well as unwanted items of trash out at the curb by Tuesday June 14, 2022 between the hours of 7 am and 8 am.  We understand this is a difficult, but this is mandatory. We wish Charlie to be wearing as little as possible. We understand he uses adult diapers so we wish him to be wearing only the diapers when he is out at the curb. This will speed up his disposal at that time. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. Chief executive of Special Disposals: Jason Tallmadge”

Caregiver-Julie: Charlie! Do you know what this means???? This means that I am no longer your caregiver! They are sending out two new caregivers that will make sure that you and your diapers, clothing and anything else are disposed of. I can’t do anything about this Charlie! OH…I am SO sorry Charlie! Your new caregivers will be here on Wednesday. I will be leaving you then. I hope I get paid well for this!

Charlie: NO! PLEASE! Don’t let them take me! What are they going to do to me????

Caregiver-Julie: I don’t know…..Charlie, I…don’t….know! Your new order of diapers is coming in tomorrow and some of your cloth diapers are being washed right now so that you will start out with clean ones when they come. Now, there are still 4 dozen cloth diapers that won’t be washed because there isn’t enough time to. I know that you like using the cloth diapers while at home and the disposables while away from home, but I’m fairly certain that the new caregivers will not use the cloth diapers on you at all, but use only your disposable diapers on you instead.

Charlie: Why do you think the new caregivers will only use disposable diapers on me? What will they do with my cloth diapers then?

Caregiver-Julie: Well Charlie, they are probably going to throw all of your diapers away when they take you out with them on trash day. Clean…or not, they are going to throw all of your clothes and diapers away as well as your favorite stroller and diaper bags too I imagine.  As for what types of diapers they will or won’t use, that is something you will have to discuss with them.

June 8, 2022 8:00 am

Julie wakes up and changes Charlie’s wet cloth diapers and removes the outer disposable diaper that they used like disposable plastic pants and she tossed the cloth diapers into the usual cloth diaper pail and the disposable diaper into the disposable diaper pail unwrapped and unrolled.

The doorbell rings and Julie goes to answer the door. Two pretty, and young but strong ladies are standing at the door wearing scrubs with the trash company symbols on them and their name tags on the front breast pocket.

D & D Disposal Caregiver 1: Hi there, are you Julie?

Julie: Yes, I am…why don’t you both come in.

D & D Disposal Caregiver 2: Hi, My name is Michelle and this is my co-worker, Shawna. We were sent by the new owners of Charlie to take care of him for the last few days before his disposal and also get him and his things ready for disposal. Tell us about his routines, and anything special that he may or may not require.

As the three ladies traded information about Charlie and his diapering, washing and clothing routines, the next door neighbor had received a similar letter for their 15 year old disabled daughter.

Neighbor-Mother: Honey! Honey! We just got one of those letters from the new government! (Ripping the envelope open and reading the letter near the dinner table)

Daughter: What does it say? What does it say mom?

Mother: It says: “To whom this may concern, this is a letter to inform any and all caregivers of Missy Johnson that as of Tuesday June 7, 2022, Missy is the sole property of D & D Disposal Inc.  Please have any and all clothing and any articles belonging to Missy, as well as unwanted items of trash out at the curb by Tuesday June 14, 2022 between the hours of 7 am and 8 am. If you wish to remain with Missy until our truck arrives, please have Missy waiting and ready at the above designated time. We understand this is a difficult, but this is mandatory. We wish Missy to be wearing as little as possible due to the warm weather. We understand she uses adult diapers so we wish her to be wearing only the diapers when she is out at the curb. This will speed up her disposal at that time. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. Chief executive of Special Disposals: Jason Tallmadge”

Mother: Honey, it says that I have to give you to these people and they want you out by the curb with the trash next Tuesday! That also means that I have to throw away all of your clean and dirty diapers, clothing, stroller, diaper bags and your stuffed animals! Hey! I don’t really want to do this but…they said that it’s mandatory that I do it!

Missy: NO! Mommy! NO! PLEASE! Don’t let them take me! OH, come ON mom! You gonna let them do this?

Mother: Sorry…I have to! In the fine print on the back of this letter, it says that if I do not do this, I could also be disposed of! Now, they know that I have brought you to my lab and used you in several of the chemical experiments. They also know that you have played with poor Charlie next door. I think the government is afraid that you two might have seen too much and that you two may spread what ever I am working on, which you know mom can’t disclose since the lab I work for is a government contracted lab. I’m afraid it’s out of my hands.

Missy: Does that mean that you have to throw away all of my strawberry shortcake print diapers that I love so much?

Mother: I…am afraid so sweetie, I…am afraid so!

All around the neighborhood, those that have played with, known, and or are friends with both Charlie and Missy, received notices just like Charlie and Missy did. Even quite a few who also go to the daycare for the disabled, received the same letter, but a few were instructed to go to the daycare as usual and the disposals would be handled there instead. The trash pick-up day for the daycare is two days later than the residential route is and this gives mothers and caregivers a little more time to get everything prepared. The time that the trash truck comes at the daycare is around 6:00 pm instead of early in the morning like the residential route.

During the week, things went as usual and both Charlie and Missy forgot about what was going to happen to them. The Monday night before, Charlie’s diapers were all being tossed into large trash cans on wheels, provided by the trash company. They provided as many as needed to accommodate everything on the lists as well as the usual household trash. Charlie was put to bed in his usual thick, layered cloth pre-fold diapers underneath his already thick disposable diapers with extra baby powder so he would feel drier and more comfortable longer. As Charlie slept, the two D & D caregivers worked hard to finish cleaning out all of the clean diapers from his closets, and his basement as well as all of his cloth diapers, onesies, footed pajamas, the 4 dozen plastic pants, and all of the 3 dozen wet and formerly wet cloth diapers that had been sitting in the diaper pails waiting to be washed but are now being thrown into the trash instead. Once they finished, two new D & D caregivers came in to replace the first two at 3 am. At 5 am, they woke Charlie up for his last and final diaper change and last feeding before it was time to take the trash out and for Charlie to be brought outside to the curb to wait for the D & D Disposal truck to arrive. It was exactly 7:15 am that morning when poor Charlie was wrenched from his seat at the dining table still wearing the now slightly wet, very thick, disposable diaper with eight layered toddler pre-fold cloth diapers inside of it and lots and lots of baby powder.

As the two D & D Disposal caregivers carried Charlie outside to the curb, caregiver-Julie had just finished bringing out the last of Charlie’s wet cloth diaper pails.

Caregiver-Julie: There! All done! (Smacking her hands together) May I go now?

D & D Disposal Caregiver 1: Yes, you may…unless you wish to wait around and watch as our trash men take young Charlie here and all of those, nice….comfy, diapers and clothing?

Caregiver-Julie: You’re right…I think I would….like to watch your trash men take Charlie and all of his comfy diapers! Hey! Charlie! I can’t WAIT….to see you and your diapers getting smashed and all….crumpled up by that super hard working compactor!!!!

I can hear the trash truck on the next block! It will be here in just a few minutes Charlie Diaper pants!

Charlie was shocked to hear his sweet caregiver that he had known for the past ten years talk like that. He had never, ever heard her talk like that to him before. As the two new caregivers brought Charlie closer to the trash cans next to the curb, Charlie turned his head to keep Julie in sight with a look of utter astonishment on his face.

Charlie: But, but….I thought you weren’t going to let them take me! I thought you cared about me!

Julie: I do, Charlie, I do…in a very….professionally distant kind of way. The trash company owns you now! I can’t change that! Well, Charlie, here comes the trash truck…it’s at the neighbor’s house that has all of those toddlers and disabled people. I’m sure that all of their wet and dirty diapers will be nice and soft for ya….I know it’s not pleasant….but I hope the trash men get you and the trash to the dump soon! You will probably need a diaper change by the time you get there….

D & D Disposal Caregiver 1: Yea…I don’t think that’s going to happen….See…once he is out here, he is nothing more than property, and we don’t clean up…property for disposal! Once he gets to the dump, there is a ‘special burial” waiting for him and all of these nice, comfy diapers!

D & D Disposal Caregiver 2: the trash men don’t care what he has on or if it’s wet, dry, or somewhere in between! They don’t care how thick it is, or if they are made of cloth or not! He is simply trash and thus treated as such! Normally, we bag up all of the trash but because of the short notice we were given, there wasn’t enough time to bag it all up. We sometimes even give a sleeping pill to those who might resist before we bag them up and take them out and leave them at the curb in a bag full of their own clean and dirty diapers.

D & D Disposal Caregiver 1: hey…Charlie, look at how many….diapers the trash men are throwing in their truck! That’s the third overfilled can! You know the average person can go through 4,200 diapers from the time they are born until usual toilet training? Those that can’t be toilet trained, go through 8,500 diapers a year! Our neighbors go through 21000 diapers per year with those toddlers and a few disabled people in that house! OOOH! Now they are coming over here! Get ready Charlie…..

The 2004 Maxon Heil Semi-automated side loader pulled up to the curb and stopped. Two men jumped out of the right hand side of the cab with the driver still sitting in his seat. The younger and stocky built and 6 foot tall trash man with a bald head went to the first trash can and began to hand load the entire 97 gallon can full of clean and formerly wet (now dried) cloth pre-fold diapers into the hopper on top of the small pile of disposable diapers already in the hopper. Then, while the other man was putting the first 97 gallon tote back and getting the next one, his co-worker was walking over to Charlie about to take him by his right arm and drag him over to the side of the almost full hopper.

Tall dark-haired trash man: Well! He sure has a thick diaper on! Is he here for disposal or is he just watching?

D & D Disposal Caregiver 1: Oh…he is here for disposal alright! Are you ready for him?

Tall dark-haired trash man: certainly! We ALWAYS have room for more trash, especially the diapered trash! Come now little one…wanna see what it looks like from the inside? Wanna feel….what it’s like to be trash? Let me show you……

Hey, big D, wanna help me load this piece of trash?

Big D-young, stocky built and 6 foot tall trash man with a bald head: Sure. That one is wearing a thick…..diaper! Did he wetsy-wetsy in his diaper?

Tall dark-haired trash man: Does it matter? (Grunting a little as he lifted Charlie by his arms.)

Charlie: NO! Let…GO…of me! Don’t put me in there!!!! It stinks! NO! I’m NOT trash! I don’t wanna go in there! NO! Stop!!! STOOOOP! UUUUUH! Let me out!

Big D: My brother, the owner of this company, told me once that drier babies were more comfortable babies and comfy babies were quieter babies.

Tall dark-haired trash man: Your brother is right! (Swinging Charlie through the air and into the hopper on top of the crinkly load of clean and wet cloth and disposable diapers) In this case, it doesn’t mater. He is just another article of trash and you know what we do to trash…right?

Big D: Yea, smash it and take it all to the dump!

Tall dark-haired trash man: That’s RIGHT big D! Hit the compactor switch then I’ll help you get those last two cans of diapers, then we’re off….

Big D: Right away!

Big D pushed the compactor button and as the compactor went into action, the two men took one of the last two remaining full 97 gallon trash cans and brought them over to the side before emptying them and setting them aside on the curb in a row. Then they both waved and then got back into the cab and the truck drove off to the next door neighbor’s house.

Charlie: Hey!!! STOP! NOOOOOO! Make it…..STOP!!!!

As the compactor cycled, Charlie and some of the diapers rose up above the compactor blade and fell down onto the top of the compactor as it crushed the diapers and trash.

Then as the compactor began to retract quickly, Charlie, the diapers and other trash fell into the hopper again, but in the empty space right in front of the blade. The blade stopped and the two trash men emptied more diapers and trash into the hopper, tossing in large white bags filled with diapers from the other stop. Then the hopper became full and the compactor cycled again. Diapers and the trash bags of diapers began to press forcefully against his chest as his thickly diapered butt was being forced against and into the loose diapers from his neighbor before and his diapers as the whole load was being forcefully shoved into the packer container that was already half way full of other trash and diapers from the rest of the neighborhood.

Charlie sprung back into the hopper part way as more and more 97 gallon cans were emptied into the truck. The loose diapers fell into the hopper in front of Charlie and then more white bags filled with clean disposable diapers and clean and dirty cloth diapers as well as girl clothing were piled into the hopper before a small midget was tossed into the hopper on top of the bags of diapers and other trash. She was wearing a really thick Luvs diaper with booster pads inside of it and lots and lots of baby powder in it too. Since there were so many bags in the hopper and there compactor was going to have problems compacting everything so the brown-haired trash man used the pre-crusher before starting the compactor cycle.

Missy: put me DOWN! NO! Not in here! I am NOT trash! Hey! What is that! UH! Get this heavy metal thing OFF me!!!! It’s smashing me down! UH! NOOOOO! The bags are crushing against me! STOP! My comfy, soft diapers!!!! NOOOO!

I don’t wanna be trash!!!!

As Missy, the diapers, Charlie and other trash continued to be crushed over and over by the cycles of the compactor, Charlie wet his diaper very much and it started to leak. Missy’s diapers were soaked so much that the compactor made the back of her diaper pop and the wet fluff spread everywhere in the load.

As the two trash men tossed in more diapers and other trash, a few of the over stuffed cans spilled out onto the street next to the truck as they brought the cans over to be emptied. The trash men picked the diapers up from the street and tossed them into the hopper on top of the moving compactor blade as it crushed and shoved all of the trash further and further back into the container.

As the truck moved on to the next block, picking up loads and loads of trash and diapers,

The truck got closer and closer to my house.

It was getting close to 9:00 am now and I had been asleep until the D & D Disposal nurses had woke me up, changed my diaper one last time at 7:15 am. The two nurses got all of my cloth diapers, clean and my wet and formerly wet cloth diapers that I had left over tossed into four of the aluminum trash cans and had also brought the cans out to the curb for trash pick-up. The four aluminum 32 gallon trash cans were overfilled with all of my wet and formerly wet cloth diapers!  The three 97 gallon trash cans D & D disposal had provided for my disposal were so overfilled with clean packs of my disposable diapers as well as my worn-but-not-wet disposable diapers not to mention all of my disposable training pants, cloth training pants, 20 of my clean and dirty onesies, two of my footed sleepers, my bedding, and four pair of my shorts, my navy blue ones, my khaki shorts, my orange, blue and white striped shirt, four of my polo styled shirts and two pair of my jeans as well as a pair of my black gym pants that had a red and white stripe running down each side of them, and 6  pair of my plastic and rubber pants as well as over 3,000 clean, wet and formerly wet disposable diapers that I had worn. I couldn’t believe that the nurses had simply tossed all of my favorite packs of thick disposable diapers into the trash cans. Why was I being disposed of now? Why wasn’t I allowed to wear and use my tranquility Slimlines and tranquility ATN diapers? What a waste of my clean diapers!!!!

Six hours earlier:

Alex: Hey! Why are you taking out all of my favorite Tranquility disposable diapers from the diaper pantry? What are you doing? They aren’t trash! I am going to need those!!!

D & D Disposal caregiver-Nancy: Sorry….every one of these packs of diapers now belongs to the trash company. If you’re lucky, maybe you won’t need these any more where you’re going!

Alex: What about all of my nice, soft, comfy cloth diapers? How come you are throwing all of them away too? Can’t they just get washed?

D & D Disposal caregiver-Michelle: NOPE! Everything that once belonged to you, now belongs to the trash company! Besides, who would want your used cloth diapers after you are done with them anyhow???

Alex: But…I am NOT done with them! I will still need to have my diapers changed. I am wet now! Can one of you change my diaper please?

The two nurses look at each other as if deciding who would be the one to change Alex’s wet diapers.

D & D Disposal Caregiver-Nancy: I will Alex….let me get eight of these cloth diapers out of the trash can so we can put them into your disposable diaper and I also have to get one of your tranquility All-Through-The-Night diapers and six booster pads out from one of the trash cans too before I can change you. Now…what trash can did I put the pack of your booster pads into??? Hmmm!

Alex: What are you going to do with my wet cloth diapers that are inside of my disposable right now?

D & D Disposal Caregiver-Nancy: Well, I am going to throw them all away! Isn’t that what is supposed to be done with them after you’re done with them?

Alex: NO! Aren’t you supposed to take them out and send them to be washed and dried?

D & D Disposal Caregiver-Nancy: No, I’m afraid not! See, you are going to be disposed of in just a few hours, and the trash men really don’t care what…you have on, if your diapers are wet or not, clean or not or if you are comfortable or not! Technically, we can toss you into one of the trash cans and leave you there until the truck comes, but the company policy is to make sure that each article of trash that has a diaper on must be made comfortable and kept well up to four hours before disposal. They want you to be wearing as thick of a diaper as possible for the long trip to the transfer station or the landfill, depending on how close they are to the landfill at the time the truck gets too full.

Now….we don’t really have to change your diapers right now at all, but…being the nice people we are, we will change your diapers a couple more times before the truck comes.

They texted us and told us to have you out at the curb before 10:00 am. So that is the time you WILL be out there! No if’s, and’s or but’s about it!

Alex: What if my diapers are wet when the truck comes, will they change my diapers?

D & D Disposal Caregiver-Nancy: No, they won’t! You’re just another piece of trash to them! They don’t care if your diapers are dripping, leaking or dry as a bone! You WILL be tossed into their truck with the rest of the trash and taken away for disposal!

They are paid to take whatever is put out and brought to them! They don’t care what…. “it” is!!! Now, ready for your second to last diaper change?

As Nancy unfastened my wet disposable diaper with the 8 layered cloth pre-fold ex diaper service diapers inside, she pulled the front of the diaper down, allowing the layers of cloth diapers to flop down in the cradle of the disposable diaper. Then without rolling it up, she simply tossed it up onto my chest while she prepared the clean, dry, thick, booster pad-filled Tranquility ATN diaper with 8 clean and dry cloth diapers in side of it to slide underneath me. Nancy then lifted my drying butt up while she slide the super bulky disposable diaper underneath me. Michelle had been called over to help keep my butt lifted while she got the diaper positioned under me.

Once Nancy got the diaper where she wanted it, Michelle slowly lowered me into the soft, thick, pillowy mass of the cloth diapers inside the large sized Tranquility ATN diaper with six booster pads inside and under the layers of cloth diapers.

As Nancy and Michelle change my diaper, one of the trash men texts Michelle’s phone to see if I am ready for disposal.

(Text: Is he ready? I hope he is! Did he get his diaper changed? If not, don’t worry. I just don’t want his diapers falling off while I load him like that one boy’s diapers did! We are six blocks away. We will be there between 9:45 am and 10:05 am.) Michelle checks the text on her smart-phone and then continues with Alex’s diaper change.

Michelle: (completing Alex’s diaper change) Now, that ought to last you until disposal time….isn’t this thick, soft and bulky diaper nice and comfy for you? AWE! It’s so thick you won’t be able to walk! What a shame! Let’s strap him into his star wars stroller! Then he can help bring some of the bags of his diapers to the curb! We could even put both of his diaper bags on the handles!

Said one of the D & D Disposal caregivers to the other as a suggestion.

Nancy: now that…sounds like a great idea!!! Alex, would you like to help take a couple of bags of your trash out? That would help us out a lot!

Me-Alex: But won’t the trash men see me in my diapers?

Michelle: Sure they will! Come on! It will be fun! Besides, the trash men don’t care what you look like….they are still going to take you!

Me-Alex: isn’t taking people as trash, illegal?

Nancy: No, it is NOT! Even the EPA website that regulates all of the trash companies doesn’t mention that they can’t take humans as trash! In fact, there is NO mention of humans being allowed or not allowed on any of the EPA regulatory websites, the various state websites or the individual landfill websites that mention what they can or can’t will and won’t take as trash. So, the owners of D & D Disposal decided to start doing government contracts and one of the items that the government wanted to be sure that we took were any person, article, item that they designated as trash, be it prisoners on death row, or anything or anyone they so designated that we take. We don’t ask questions, we simply load whatever or whomever the contract says we have to! Now you can make this an easy experience or you can make it a difficult one. If you try to resist, we will simply give you a mild chemical restraint that will keep you awake and alert but unable to move your arms or legs, or we can simply roll you out to the curb and leave you there next to one of the cans until the truck arrives. Which one will it be?

Me-Alex: Fine! Fine! I’ll try to be co-operative!

Michelle: Maybe we can reward you for your co-operation by letting you choose what diapers you wear before you go out to the curb….huh?

Nancy: Ok, we can allow that…if you’re good right up until the trash men take you….we will also promise not to put you into a trash bag with your diapers and put you into your stroller. Do you know which diapers you’d like to wear for disposal Alex?

Alex: Yes, I want to wear my medium Attends with waistband diapers with six booster pads and between four and six layered cloth diapers inside with a lot of baby powder. I want my diapers to be so thick that I can’t put my legs together!

Nancy: All that you and your diapers will end up doing is either sliding along the metal hopper floor along with the rest of the diapers and trash or they will simply bunch up against you as the diapers and trash gets crushed against you….so, if your diapers are wet, they could end up popping or the wetness being squeezed out of them…..or both.

Whatever you are wearing will just have to last long enough until you get to the landfill, however long it takes.

Alex: I want to be disposed of Nancy! I want to be just a little wet when I am put into the truck! Can I please be taken out either in a trash bag full of my diapers with my head sticking out or do I have to be taken out in my stroller?

Michelle: we were thinking about just rolling you to the curb in your stroller and then leaving you in it for the trash men to take since your stroller is being disposed of too.

That way, we can also hang your two diaper bags on the handles and you can hold onto two bags of your diapers until the trash men take them from you. That would be very……very….helpful to us.

Alex: I would LOVE to carry two bags of my diapers to the curb! Hey! When is the trash truck coming?

Michelle: I will be here in four hours or less Alex. We still have to give you your last diaper change before you go out to the curb. Are you wet? Let me take a look….

( Michelle inserts her index and middle fingers into the leg elastics of Alex’s diaper on his left side and feels the diapers for wetness.) NO…you’re not wet enough yet. So it seems that you may not be getting that last diaper change after all. We can’t change your diapers any more because it is only four hours until your disposal. We can only change you up to the last four hours before disposal then we have to leave you in whatever you are wearing right now. I know we promised you a last diaper change but…we don’t make the rules, we just follow them.

Alex: So, I am not getting my diapers changed any more now? UUUH! OK…but I am wet!

Michelle: Yes, you are. But we can’t do anything about it. If you get even wetter, you will be stuck in that diaper until you get to the landfill!

Now, I am going to put you down for your last two hour nap so we can finish getting all of your diapers and the rest of the trash out to the curb. I will wake you up 45 minutes before it’s time to take you out to the curb and wait for the trash truck to come.

Alex: I can’t wait!

Both Michelle and Nancy helped put me into my safety bed and then they put the sides up and then lowered the locking top and then they went back to work, taking the remaining cloth and disposable diapers from the drawers in my diaper changing table and stuffing them into one of the already full diaper pail trash cans that was about to be carried out to the curb by the two of them.

I had fallen asleep and time flew by like a whisper on the wind. Before long, I felt myself being lifted out of the safety bed and put into my Star wars stroller and strapped in. then I felt two large and white trash bags being placed into my lap. The bags were really, really heavy and were full of my clean cloth diapers and lots and lots of my loose, clean disposable diapers that were from several opened packages of my disposable diapers. I was still rather groggy but alert enough to know that one of the caregivers had put two of my fully stocked diaper bags on each of the handles. One of the diaper bags was stocked with two pair of plastic pants and six thick, bulky cloth pre-fold diapers in adult medium, a container of baby powder, a wipes container and a container of rash cream. The other diaper bag also had a duplicate of what was in the other bag but instead of cloth adult diapers, the second diaper bag had all of my modified size six diapers, my booster pads, and a bunch of my clean disposable diapers in it.

Then I felt the stroller beginning to roll towards the door. I felt butterflies in my stomach as the door opened and the stroller and I were rolled outside towards the overfilled 97 gallon trash cans and the over stuffed aluminum 32 gallon trash cans out by the curb.

The bright and warm sunlight shone down onto me strapped into the stroller as it was pushed the short way to the curb. Then the stroller stopped right next to one of the 32 gallon cans and as I sat there, I could smell all of the wetness from the cloth diapers that were in there. I looked down at the diapers in the can realizing now that the two ladies Michelle and Nancy weren’t kidding when they told me that I was going out to the curb to wait for the trash truck.

The time was now 9:42 am and I could hear the loud sounds of the trash truck down the street somewhere on the block around the curve. Then, I heard the loud sound of the trash truck’s engine coming around the curve in the street as it barreled towards our house. It made two stops, one at a house down the street then it stopped at my neighbor’s house where I could see all of the clothing and diapers that they were dumping into the truck. I heard the engine race for a bit then two people got back into the cab and the driver, who never left his seat, drove the truck to our house.

The large Maxon Heil semi automated side loader pulled up close to the curb and stopped with a slight jolt. Two men jumped out and one came over to the first of the 97 gallon cans and then he brought it over to the side of the truck, hooked it to the tote dumper and then the can rose into the air and all of the diapers, clothing flew out and landed into the hopper before he put the tote back down and put it back in the row. The second man came over to the first of the 32 gallon cans and took one and then emptied it into the hopper of the truck while the other man was busy getting the second 97 gallon can to empty. As each of the 97 gallon trash cans and the 32 gallon trash cans were emptied, each can was replaced and it was getting closer and closer to the time that the stroller and I were going to be next. Before the last two 07 gallon cans were emptied, the last of the 32 gallon cans had been emptied and now the stroller, the two bags of my diapers, my diaper bags and I were next. The brown-haired stocky trash man came over to the stroller and took the two trash bags from my lap and tossed them into the hopper before leaning back down to look at me.

Tall dark-haired trash man: Ready to go? Looks like you are wearing a nice, thick diaper. Is it comfy?

Me-Alex: Well, it’s a little wet and I didn’t get a diaper change before it was time to come out and wait for you all to come.

Tall dark-haired trash man: Well, the truck can handle your wet diaper. Don’t worry! Our truck is full of wet and leaky diapers! You’ll fit in nicely! If you don’t, the compactor will sure take care of that for us. The compactor folds strollers like the one you’re in for easy storage! Hey, Big D, come help me load this stroller into the truck will ya?

Me-Alex: But, I’ve never been disposed of before! What is going to happen to me, my diapers and my favorite stroller? Hey! Aren’t you going to get me out of my stroller? What about my diaper bags?

Tall dark-haired trash man: Don’t worry, the diaper bags can stay right…where…they…are! (Putting the stroller on it’s left side with me facing the compactor blade) There! Be right back with more of your nice, comfy diapers for ya!

The two trash man went and got the last two 967 gallon overfilled trash cans and dumped each one into the hopper, spilling my diapers, clothing all over the stroller, me and all over the hopper on top of the rest of the diapers already inside the hopper. Then once the last 97 gallon can was empty, the two emptied the last two 32 gallon cans into the hopper, and I looked up and watched as the first of the two 32 gallon aluminum cans spilled their contents all over me. Then I watched the now empty cans get lowered down and get put back down. Then I saw one of the trash men come over to the hopper and with his work-glove covered hand, he began to shove and move around some of the diapers that were too close to the edge and might fall down onto the ground.

Then he hit the compactor button and as the compactor came to life and started to cycle, the stroller I was still strapped into, began to rise up and then fall onto the top of the compactor blade along with two white bags filled with my cloth diapers and my loose disposable diapers as well as the loose cloth and disposable diapers that were now covering some parts of my stroller as well as the two diaper bags, began to slide and ride along the top as the compactor pushed and crushed the loads of trash and diapers into the packer container in the rear of the truck. The truck was now slightly more than half way full and the loads of trash and diapers created resistance to the other loads that were being tossed into the hopper which is why the stroller and the other bags and I ended up on top of the compactor blade as it cycled. Once the compactor blade began to retract quickly, the two white bags of my diapers, the stroller and the loose diapers covering the stroller began to fall back down into the hopper. There were still a lot of bags and loose diapers that sprung back part way into the hopper as the two men got back into the cab and took off to the next stop nearly two and a half blocks away.

The bumpy ride to the next stop made some of the diapers from the packer container wiggle and wobble back into the hopper like a mini avalanche as the truck rumbled to the next stop. The truck slowed down and then stopped at a rather large house and then a few minutes later, the first trash can filled with regular household trash in dark black trash bags was dumped into the hopper. The bags fell out of the large 97 gallon can and landed on top of the stroller I was in, rising higher than the compactor blade. Then a second and then a third 97 gallon can was emptied into the hopper, then a fourth can filled only with loose, rolled up disposable diapers was empted into the hopper before one of the trash men started the pre-crusher before the compactor blade started. The pre-crusher blade came smacking down onto the load of trash, the stroller, the bags of my diapers and I rather hard, crushing down everything underneath it. Then as the compactor started, to forcefully shove the stroller I was in and all of the trash, into the packer container. As the compactor pushed and forcefully shoved the stroller into the rest of the diapers and trash, the stroller began to fold up and two of the right hand back wheels broke off and landed down into the hopper near my head as the stroller slid across the smooth but dirty hopper floor.

I didn’t know it yet, but the two trash men had emptied more large black and white trash bags into the hopper and tossed in a couple of cardboard Huggies boxes filled with rolled up dirty Huggies diapers in them. As the compactor blade began to retract, the black and white bags and the two Huggies diapers boxes filled with rolled up Huggies diapers fell into the hopper with one of the boxes tipping over, spilling the rolled up Huggies diapers right near my head and the box coming to rest partly resting against the stroller where my arms stuck out. Then what seemed like two large cans filled with wet training pants and unrolled wet disposable diapers began to rain down on the stroller and I into the hopper, covering the stroller and I more and more as more and more black and white trash bags were tossed in. then the compactor cycled again and this time, as it did, the straps that held me into the stroller broke and caused me to fall out of the stroller onto my right side facing a bunch of the loose, rolled up diapers, loose, wet disposable training pants and one of the now empty cardboard Huggies boxes. The compactor shoved the cardboard Huggies box against me and as the pressure quickly mounted, the box began to fold as I was forced against my stroller and a bunch of the loose, rolled up diapers and loose, wet disposable training pants.

As more and more bags of trash, loose toddler clothing and rolled and unrolled dirty disposable diapers, the compactor was cycled again and as the compactor retracted, I tried to get up onto my knees, shoving the stroller and the semi packed bags aside so I could see where the truck was…..right then.

The truck was driving in traffic along a busy main street when it slowed, then turned right

Then it drove for a little longer then it turned right into a housing development and then pulled up to a row of four tall 97 gallon trash cans, two of which were so full the lid wasn’t closed and there were boxes of diapers sticking out of the can that looked like they hadn’t even been opened yet. The two trash men jumped down and out of the cab and each grabbed one of the 97 gallon cans and then rolled them over to the tote tipper and connected them. I watched as the lid was opened and the can rose up and tipped over, spilling out four white kitchen trash bags and about two bags worth of loose unrolled wet disposable Luvs and Pampers diapers into the hopper. I hadn’t been pushed into the packer container just yet so as the can’s contents were emptied into the hopper, they fell out all over me, thumping me on the head and legs. As the trash man put the can back down and rolled it back into the row, he said:

Tall dark-haired trash man: you’d better sit or lay down or when I run the packer, it will force you to! SIT! NOW!

Alex: OK….I was just trying to see where we were!

Tall dark-haired trash man: You don’t need to know where we are! You are in a trash truck now, on your way to the transfer station along with the rest of this trash! That is ALL you will need to know! Here! More trash for ya! OOH! Look! Here come more…dirty diapers….

The tall dark-haired trash man then dumps a large black can full of loose dirty diapers into the hopper then he hits the compactor button and then stands there watching as the trash, diapers and I get compacted again.

The last large, heavy black trash bag lands into the hopper and knocks me down onto my left side with my diapered butt facing the compactor now. The compactor starts up and I begin to slide along the smooth, warm, dirty metal floor of the hopper. My diaper begins to bunch up as the bags of trash press rather hard against his diapers and chest for a few seconds as he and the trash are pressed into the rest of the trash and his own former stroller. As more and more trash was loaded and packed into the Maxon Heil semi automated side loader, Alex, Missy and Charlie were being forcefully shoved and pushed into the packer container along with the rest of the diapers and usual trash.

Then, around 2:00 pm, the truck was as they say; packed out.

With the last large load of diapers and household trash in the hopper, the tall, dark-haired trash man lowered the pre-crusher, cycled the compactor and then stopped it in mid cycle so to hold the pressure of the trash until the truck got to the transfer station.

The truck drove for miles and miles through the city streets to the transfer station at the edge of town, nearest to one of three large landfills. Since the loads in the truck contained “special waste”, the truck was directed to a special corner of the transfer station newly designated for these types of collections. The truck backed up to the designated spot and then the tailgate opened up and the ejection blade began to cycle. All of the trash and diapers from inside the truck began to tumble out of the packer container and into some sort of processing area right before a large landfill compactor with a huge metal plow on the front of it began to come over to where the new pile was forming to start pushing everything over to the opening of the transfer station hopper of the transfer station compactor on the opposite side of the station from the transfer station compactor filling up with regular loads of trash. This compactor was packing all of the loads of “special waste” collected from areas of the city which received the special government letters that ordered them to dispose of their special waste. Once this container was full, it would be transported to the landfill and taken to a special area of that landfill where these types of loads are emptied out first onto a pad close to a large and deep pit being filled with diapers, clothing and diapered trash.

Charlie: (Still alive and partially paralyzed by the weight of the rest of the trash and diapers as they lay in the pile waiting for the compactors to plow the load into the station’s transfer compactor then into the long, 45 foot transfer container)

Hey! Where are we? It stinks in here! Why are there so….many diapers and clothing in this place? Isn’t that my….my diaper bag over there? I can’t reach them way over there!!

Missy: (Moaning from the large amount of pressure under all of the heavy bags and from being in the compactor)

I think we are at some……(looking around to confirm her surroundings) transfer station….maybe? That loud and VERY large machine looks like it is about to come over here!

Charlie: (looking in the direction of the landfill compactor with a large, heavy-duty plow on the front of it) Oh….OH…MY…GOD! It IS coming over here!!! Don’t they see us in the pile????

Missy: unfortunately, if they do…know we are in here…they don’t care! We are nothing more than another piece of trash! Someone’s unwanted waste! Our lovely government owns us, and they have deceived you with the perception of freedom and a limited free-will! We were probably ordered to be disposed of because we are costing them too much money and the republican politicians want the money they used on us, for something else!

Just then, Alex pops out of the trash truck and falls a few feet down and onto the pile and then tumbles down to the base of the pile near the side of the pile where both Charlie and Missy are.

Missy: Hello! Welcome to trash town! Try not to enjoy your stay since it will NOT be too long!

Alex: Aren’t YOU the positive one! My diapers are soaking wet and I am filthy dirty! I smell bad and we are sitting next to a very large and heavy pile of diapers, clothing, a stroller and other assorted items of trash! What’s next?

Missy: I can’t be sure, but that large machine over there, has been pushing and shoving everything over to that large, metal pit thing and everything that has been pushed into the pit, disappears. That team of push-broom operators over there are quick to clean up after each load too! OOH! Look! Now that large machine is coming over HERE!!!! This might be an interesting ride!!!! Get ready everyone!!!!!

As the large landfill compactor and oversized grater came towards the pile, Charlie, Missy and Alex crawled back into the pile JUST in time for the pile to begin moving and tumbling as the oversized grater/landfill compactor began to plow the first part of the load into the transfer station hopper that was already half way filled with other trash, diapers, a few other strollers, old suitcases filled with clean cloth diapers and clothing, once clean and now filthy dirty loose cloth training pants and two other diapered people that had been disposed of from two local disability daycare facilities. The three of us were lucky to manage to get forced down into the hopper with diapers, Alex’s Stroller and other trash. The second part of the load fell down on top of the three diapered people in the hopper and they were completely buried. Once the oversized grater had finished with the most recent load and the last load for a few hours, the push-broom brigade began to sweep the remnants of the load down into the hopper before the compactor operator up in the tower overlooking the hopper, started the compactor cycle. The massive compactor began to crush the loads again, forcing Charlie, Missy and Alex into the transfer container being crushed against even MORE diapers, clothing, strollers, diaper bags, loose clean and dirty cloth and disposable diapers, and other diapered people.

Once this load was inside the container’s threshold, the operator in the tower lowered and sealed the compactor’s gate at the end so to keep everything in the container from springing back into the hopper. There was still a little more room in the container yet and there were still several more large loads coming in that needed to be transferred to this container for transport to the landfill. Night had fallen now and the other loads had been emptied out at the dumping pads nearby and were already pushed into the hopper.  

The compactor operator opened the threshold gate and started the compactor cycle for the last time before the container was going to be sealed and then taken directly to the landfill that night. This particular trailer and the two others before it had priority to be emptied that same night once they arrived at the landfill. Little did we know, that the person who owned this landfill, was none other than Mack himself. Mack had ordered these particular three trailers to be swiftly brought to his landfill and for his night-shift crews to hurry and empty the loads so that they could get to the special processing that would befall everything in the loads.

The Landfill:

The first trailer arrived and was emptied out leaving a giant pile of diapers, diapering items, strollers, old suitcases full of clothing and clean cloth diapering items as well as large black trash bags full of plastic pants. The loose formerly clean and formerly wet disposable diapers as well as the loose, formerly clean cloth diapering items and the formerly wet, now dried cloth diapering items fell out and scattered about as they fell to the ground.

Then the second container arrived and the same thing happened. The container was backed up right next to the first one and as the first one was empty, it pulled away and went back to the transfer station. Same for the second container until the third container arrived. The third container was redirected to the other side of the special section of Mack’s landfill. The container was indeed emptied, leaving a gigantic pile of assorted diapering items, clothing, a couple of strollers, three old toddler seats, too many unopened, now ruptured packs of unused disposable diapers, at least a ton of loose cloth diapers, cloth training pants and plastic pants, another ton of loose rolled and unrolled clean, wet and dirty disposable diapers, ten hard-shell suitcases filled with still clean and folded cloth diapers, printed plastic pants, onesies, footed pajamas, plastic lined cargo shorts, cloth training pants and several dozen white, navy blue, baby blue and grey t-shirts. Once the third container was completely empty, it too pulled away and went back to the transfer station. The piles were left where they were for 10 hours until the landfill opened and the day-shift crews arrived for work.

As the day-shift began to work, sorting through everything that was in each of the piles, separating the diapers and the trash still wearing diapers from the items that were not wearable, the cloth diapers from the disposable diapers, and those who were wearing disposable diapers and those who were wearing cloth diapers or cloth training pants,

were being brought over to Mack’s junkyard and left there to eventually be loaded into a vehicle that was about to be crushed and then shredded.

Mack had slept in his office on the cot that he had set up there, so that he could sleep when he needed it after working the long, tough hours that he often worked. Being that he still occasionally worked at his trash collection service, worked at his junkyard, and sometimes worked at his landfill next door to his junk yard, he needed a place nearby that he owned, to sleep from time to time.

Mack got up from his cot, went over to pour himself a tall cup of coffee. He still had a ton of paperwork to do for his junkyard and his landfill before he could go back out to either of the yards.

Meanwhile, the loads of disposable diapers and the diapered trash were being brought over to wait their turns to be loaded into the next available vehicle that was about to be crushed. As Mack’s junkyard crews lined up all of the vehicles that were going to get crushed that day, they began to gather up all of the diapers and the diapered people that were going to get loaded into one of the vehicles in the line.

Mack walks out of the office with his clipboard under his right armpit, towards the diapered people that were lined up and waiting for their fates.

Mack: it’s almost crushing time for you all! First, we load all of the diapers and trash into the vehicle, then, we leave some room for each of you. Then, once you are loaded into the vehicle, that vehicle is immediately taken over to a staging area to wait until it is your turn in that car crusher over there, you see? I don’t care how wet or not your diapers may or may not be, and the ONLY thing I want to see is that crusher as busy as it can be, crushing each of the vehicles you will be in! Then once each vehicle is crushed, they will be shredded up into tiny pieces and our machine will separate the metal from the trash! What isn’t recycled, gets sent to one of the many incinerators we operate here!

Now, who……will be…..my FIRST…..victim…eh?