Things I Have Learned

A somewhat random and reckless look at life from a fairly old guy

by Bill Ward

The Garbage Man

Today’s Wisdom: When I see garbage trucks, I do not take them personally. I wave, I smile, I wish them luck, and I move on. ~ David Piley

I was recently sitting in the pew at church and noted my wife opening a wrapper on a cough drop. She then crumpled up the wrapper and nonchalantly dropped it in my shirt pocket. I, quietly in my own mind because I’m not stupid, asked, “Am I your garbage dump now?”

The answer in my mind--which surprised me but maybe shouldn’t have because I was sitting in church-was, “Yes.” In a way, that is what I promised to be some 49 years ago when we started our journey through life together.

I am used to being the garbage dump. It is me who picks up the dead mice in the traps. It is me who kills the big spiders in our house. It was me who picked up the dog poop in the yard before she departed, rest her soul. It is also my job to take out the actual garbage. But those are all real garbage things. I’m talking about something different here.

We all have our baggage in life, that stuff that is the less attractive side of us. It is the bad hair days, the sour moods, the impatience, the