Do all cities have Bulk Pick-Up? It is one day, every spring and fall when the city sends around a big scooper thing and a big truck and picks up all the shit from the curbs of suburbia. Mine is on April 13th and as always, it is a hotly anticipated day in my house. Part of the strategy is finding things to put out there that will lure in the scavengers. Yes, there are scavengers and other than all the crap I set out there and get rid of every year, (what else are you supposed to do with a half broken bunk bed from a zillion years ago when your children were small?) the scavengers are my favorite part of the game.
The city sends out a card announcing your date. The card has rules such as you are only supposed to put things out three days before the pick-up. Most of us, the smart ones, stage the operation for up to 6 months in advance. I'll trip over something at my house for the 100th time and "bulk pick-up" will pop into my head. I chuck them behind my shed until I can put it on the curb. Which is where it gets really interesting.
Let's say I put something out there like a fertilizer bottle sprayer thing that doesn't work anymore. It looks like it works, but really it doesn't. What the scavengers do is they wait for the right timing, then they drive up, usually in an old pick-up, sometimes a van, and they pick through your pile of trash. I get such a kick out of knowing that the sprayer doesn't work, but they don't know that, and take it, furtively looking around in the process.
The flier from the city specifically prohibits this behavior and states, "Scavenging through piles is not permitted." It is even in italics on the flier. But it doesn't stop them, and I don't think the city is that serious about enforcing it because it makes less for them to pick up. I'm not sure the scavengers are the same ones every year because wouldn't they catch on that I'm putting stuff out there ON PURPOSE that looks good just to lure them in? The city can't complain about me having a little fun can they?
"We don't want scavenging."
"Why not? It makes less work for us"
"It isn't dignified"
"Who cares???"
Comments