Trash Tuesdays

Tuesday came and went, and the piles of trash are still sitting in my backyard.

Tuesday was Trash Day, unbeknownst to us, newbie’s on our new ‘hood, and for weeks we’ve been desperately seeking sanitation workers to help us lighten our load.

We live on a mixed-used property. Our house sits on the front facing the street, and down the long driveway is an architectural office, and two artist’s studios. We like interacting with our creative and working friends who always lend a helping hand, or just stop by for a chat. But apparently the world ain’t quite ready for mixed-use.

We moved in three weeks ago, we sleep, shower, and eat here, but until this week, our house has not been considered “Residential.” Why do we need to be “residential”?  What’s the big deal with classification and semantics anyway? Well, I wouldn’t mind one bit, except for the power company charges one additional dollar per kilowatt for business use. Oh, and the trash.

Our landlords appeared before the city council months before we were set to arrive on the scene, but due to the city of Los Angeles’ snail-like pace of processing and approving paperwork, we’ve been here holding the bag. Literally. 

We have been here holding onto all our trash bags from the past three weeks because the City of L.A. would not give us trashcans. You know, as a non-Residential property, why would we need them?

My roommate Pete spoke with a local Sanitation Department employee on the phone who apologized for the delay in delivering the cans. However, Pete had to cajole her into waiving the fee for extra trash pick-up that would surely apply due to our massive volume of trash that has accrued. Then she told him with certainty, “Your trash day is Wednesday, I think.”

On Tuesday morning I heard the sound of trucks out front and scampered down the stairs just in time to see the olive green Garbage truck dovetail away from our curb and down the street. Without our trash. Our new neighborhood postman walked up the driveway and saw the dismay on my face.

“You didn’t know trash day is Tuesday?” He chuckled. Then he handed me a stack of bills.

No one tells you being an adult is this much fun.