Man vs Machine

Rainy day, so no walk in the park...not for someone trying to fend off a sore throat and ear infection. When I heard the truck collecting the recyclables from our street, I grabbed my camera and posted myself under the tree in front of our house, figuring a picture of that machine at work would make a good rainy day blip.

One man drives this huge, automated truck. If everyone would follow the directions we were given, his job would be as easy as driving the truck down the street and operating the button or lever that does the heavy lifting. Unfortunately, NOT EVERYONE FOLLOWS DIRECTIONS.

When the large green cans are set in the wrong place, the driver has to step down from his truck and move them by hand into position. When people park cars right next to the cans, again he has to step down, wheel the cans out from the curb and manually put them into position before the automation can take over. When I snapped this picture in front of our house I saw how easy it should be for one man to handle the job, but down the street from us, there was a can that was full to overflowing. It was neatly placed in the right position to be picked up by the mechanical arm, but a lot of the overflow ended up on the ground and rolled under the truck. I half expected the driver to return to his seat and continue on down the street, leaving the items in the road where they had rolled. BUT NOT THIS DRIVER! He turned off the machine, picked up what had fallen, even though he had to get down on his knees and reach under the truck to get it. Only when he had retrieved everything, did he climb back into the driver's seat to continue down the street. A JOB WELL DONE!

Machines can only do exactly what they are programed to do. It takes a responsible human being to do the job well. (And wouldn't it help if everyone would follow the printed directions they received). Anyway, kudos to this driver. I think I will have to call the company and make his supervisors aware of the kind of employee he is.