… about your local environmental services team this Christmas, i.e. the blokes who do your bins. Once upon a time at Christmas they’d knock on your door so that you could give them a tip (because otherwise you might miss them and you might not want to leave a gift for them out in the open).
But they don’t do this anymore, so you have to find another way of leaving them a card, or a bottle of fizz or a tin of mince pies to show your appreciation for them being out, all year round, in all weathers, doing the bins.
December 23, 2015 at 9:05 am
Absolutely – as well as doing their primary job, they also have provided hours of toddler entertainment over the course of the year. My children both love it when the lorry comes round (when he was around 20 months my son used to say the word ‘bins’ with arms outstretched any time he wanted to look out of the window) and all the extra waving and chatting they do for them really makes their day. Gawd bless ’em.
December 23, 2015 at 9:07 am
Yes Sam is a raving recycling and bin-freak too. “doing bins” with Daddy is a highlight of the week – when the truck comes round it’s major.
December 23, 2015 at 9:40 am
Tell me about it the hours I’ve lost watching videos of different types of recycling trucks. I know more than I ever wanted to. Would recommend the Playmobil recycling truck, my son got it for 3rd birthday and played with it every day. He’s less obsessed these days at 4 and some, but it still gets used a lot.
December 23, 2015 at 11:42 am
Giles and I both bought Sam a recycling truck for Christmas by mistake, so he can knock himself out… I mean not literally
December 23, 2015 at 11:08 am
This has to be one of the best toys I’ve ever bought.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bruder-02762-Loading-Garbage-Orange/dp/B000F03WQE
December 23, 2015 at 4:12 pm
Good for you, Esther. I was beginning to think I was the only person under 70 to tip the binnies (I’m 42).
I always leave a 6-pack of Stella out for our two sets of binmen, though my husband pointed out a couple of years ago that if you leave it too close to Christmas you get a random set of binmen, not your usual bods. I argued that they were redeployed from their usual round and so would miss their tip, so they might as well have one from me, but I didn’t really convince myself that they weren’t just temps clearing up – ha, ha – so I do it in the first fortnight of Dec now with an easy conscience.
The postie also appreciates the rustle of a banknote in his Christmas card and is less likely to fuck off with that crucial delivery just because you have taken more than two seconds to answer the door!