The garbage men already hate us, and we haven't even moved in yet. The condo people might start to hate us too.
Last week I checked the City of Boston's website on trash removal.
Monday night we put out our carpet.
Tuesday morning the sanitation workers came and didn't take it.
Tuesday afternoon the condo manager complained to us:
>>
Christina,
There is a pile of carpeting on the curb in front of XXXXX that is from your unit. This needs to be removed by tomorrow morning so that you won’t be charged for its removal. If you would like us to remove it for you, let me know so we can remove it tonight.
<<
Tuesday night I checked the city site again and then wrote back to the condo guy:
>>
We received your message about the carpet, and it's nice to know that someone is keeping tabs on the building.
We did indeed put the carpet out on the curb Monday night, in preparation for the regular Tuesday morning trash pick-up. We'd previously checked the City of Boston's website for trash collection and public works, and it didn't say that carpet was a forbidden item. Furthermore, each roll of carpet was well under the 2 cubic meters/350 lb limit per item for trash (again, according to the city website). We don't know why the city didn't pick up the carpet, but we did notice today that the sanitation workers also didn't pick up some boxes, bags, and other trash along the block (some of which is actually stacked against our building). It's possible that the truck was fairly full, or that the sanitation workers were running late, but in any case, we believe the city should have taken our carpet rolls.
We suggest leaving the carpet there until Friday, for regular trash pickup then. If it's still not picked up then, we will 1) complain directly to the city about the matter, and 2) dispose of it ourselves.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this. If you have any additional questions, you can call Robert at work at XXXX.
<<
Wednesday morning the condo guy wrote back to us:
>>
That sounds fine to me, as long as the situation is taken care of on Friday. I’ll try to help you out as much as I can, but if there is a citation issued, you will be responsible. But it sounds like you have done your homework so I’ll let you take it from there.
<<
Will the garbage men take our carpet on Friday? Will we give in to their tyranny, cut up our carpet, put it in bags, and haul it to the dump? Stay tuned to find out. . .
UPDATE:
Thursday morning the carpet was gone! In its place was a pile of new trash--old clothes, cans of paint, and dirty boxes, but none of it ours. We were off the hook, but puzzled--where did the carpet go?
Thursday night, the new trash was gone too.
Go back to web essays or over to links.
robertandchristina.com
was made with a Mac.
© 2003 C&R Enterprises
Email christina@robertandchristina.com
or robert@robertandchristina.com
Created: 9/3/03. Last Modified: 9/7/03.