The Lodal-Trash Time-Version-2

The Lodal-Trash Time

Version-2

I stood at the curb, that balmy, summer morning,

watching as the manual side loading Lodal Evo  trash truck with a recycling hopper for glass, a hopper for cardboard, and the usual hopper for trash only, pull up in front if me and stop. Two people jumped out of the cab, one on the right side walked right over to the nearest 97 gallon trash toter, filled up with my wet, unrolled cloth and disposable diapers, over to the tote-tipper preparing to empty my clean and dirty diapers into the hopper while the woman walked around the front of the trash truck, to start helping load the hopper with the trash bags sitting beside the cans. The man simply looked me over from head to the with a scowel and a glare as he grabbed the first of four totes, before the woman had came around to toss the bags into the truck.

Trash Woman: Hi. How are you?

Diapered Man: I could be better…..

Trash Woman: (bending over to grab the top trash bag on the pile) I am sorry to hear that. I hope the rest of your day goes better. How come you are wearing a diaper?

Diapered Man: Because……I wet my pants and the bed if I don't so my caregiver makes me wear them but now, the state cut me off of all of my benefits and told my state caregiver to dispose if me!

Trash Woman: That is TOO bad! Sorry that you have to go through that. (The trash woman picks the bag up and tosses it through the air and it lands into the hopper on top of the pile of loose cloth and disposable diapers that the trash man had just emptied)

Trash Man: (To his female co-worker) Is he being disposed of???

Trash Woman: Yes, he is.

Trash Man: Get him into the hopper then finish tossing the rest of the bags, we still have 200 stops to go.

Trash Woman: OK, sure thing.

The trash woman grabs the thickly Diapered Man by his left forearm and forcefully guides him over to the side of the hopper as the trash man wheels the next full trash toter over closer to the hopper but before he could empty the trash, he had to help load the thickly diapered man into the hopper first.

Diapered Man: Hey! Let go if me! Are you going to compact me right away?

Trash Woman: (to her co-worker) Could you help load him into the hopper? He doesn’t seem to want to get in on his own.

Trash Man: (coming over to load the thickly Diapered man into the hopper) sure……

(The trash man grabs the diapered man by his right arm and his right leg)

Ready? On three…..one………..two………thrrrreeeee!!!!

The trash man and his female co-worker lift the thickly Diapered an up and put him into the hopper onto his back on top of the load of loose, unbagged clean and wet, unfolded cloth and disposable diapers that the trash man had just emptied into the hopper. Then the trash man walked back over to the second full 97 trash toter and then positioned it on the tote tipper before activating the tipper to empty the trash into the hopper.

Thickly Diapered Man: NOOOO! I don't wanna be in here!!! UUUH!

Trash Woman: (laying her side of the diapered man's body down and letting go) Too bad! You’re trash now!

Trash Man: OK, toss the rest of the bags in while I finish dumping this toter and the other two then we can go to the next stop.

The trash man hooked the full trash toter bin to the tipper and then as the can rose into the air, the trash bags, packs of unopened disposable diapers, wads of formerly wet cloth diapers, loose, clean disposable diapers, spilled out into the hopper, raining down upon the thickly diapered man still curled up now in the nearly fetal position in the hopper.

Diapered Man: waaaaaaaaa! Let….me……out please! I wanna get out now! Can I?

Suddenly the trash man pushes the red compactor button and the compactor roars into action!

The compactor slides underneath the thickly diapered man but a corner of the packer blade catches on his leg elastics of his thick diaper and flips the man over more and turns him around as the packer releases the snag during its continued advancement cycle. As the compactor blade began to retract, the trash bags, loose diapers, packages of diapers and the wad of formerly wet cloth diapers and old plastic pants and the diapered man began to fall down into the now empty hopper in a heap.

Diapered Man: Do you HAVE to compact me? Careful please! My diaper almost ripped that last time!

Neither the trash woman nor the trash man said another word as the second cycle started to push the diapered man and his diapers against all of the other trash that had been compacted in the hopper.

The trash woman continued to toss the remaining trash bags into the hopper on top of the moving and cycling packer blade as the trash man emptied the last trash toter into the hopper before the trash man pushed the packer button again and then motioned for the trash woman to either get back into the cab or walk to the next stop right next door.

24 hours before………

It was 6:30 am and Theresa, Peter's caregiver, had just came on shift after the night caregiver had met with Theresa to sync up reports from nights to mornings. Once Theresa was finished preparing the daily nursing chart, she walked into Peter's room and over to his safety bed. She gently and softly began to take the side down as she always did at this hour, to begin Peter's morning diaper change.

Theresa: Good morning sweetie, it's diaper change time.

Peter: (Yawning and stretching) It's morning already?

Theresa: Yes sweetie, and it's going to be a nice, warm day out today. Would you like to go outside?

Peter: Yes, I would.

Theresa: After your diaper change, you can go outside for a while….I have to clean out your diaper pantry and throw away your old cloth diapers and any old clean disposable diapers that are left over.