Behind-the-Scenes Secrets of Garbage Collectors

Do you remember the days when a burly guy came into your yard to empty your trash cans? How times have change!

Here is a fascinating, behind the scenes look at the California's and the nation's trash collectors.

First, they say that it's OK to call me garbage men. Since around 99% are men, this info is gleaned primarily from guys.

If you think you should feel sorry for people collecting your trash, don't. Stories and personal tales abound about why people enter the profession. Many times a child was fascinated watching garbage trucks rumble, roar and bang through the neighborhood, and decided to follow his or her dreams to become a trash collector or garbage truck operator.  This is not a job of last resort explains one garbage man who says he knew when he was a kid that's what he wanted to be when he grew up.

Trash collecting appears on lists of the most dangerous jobs in America, with roughly 30 fatalities per 100,000 workers annually. Every aspect of the job has the capacity to injure.  Man-eating gears, heavy lifting and glass and needles are a few of the dangers. This is not a job for the faint-hearted as disaster is never far away.

Let's be honest -- the job stinks! Though it's hard to ignore the odors, collectors do learn to cope with smells considered offensive. However, many say that when they get off work family and friends tend to complain about smells that permeate hair and clothes. This is not a job for the faint-nosed.

The modern Mack is a wonder. The days of lifting overstuffed cans by hand are over. See the four major types of trucks used in trash collection.

When is trash a treasure? From last year's model flat screen TV to the bike your child begged for and never rode, gently used, 2nd hand items often find new homes after picked up at the curb.

Did you buy any of those new kitchen trash bags at Costco? They're thinner and 5 out of 10 of them break through before they make it outdoors. Cheap bags are cheap for a reason, and when they fail it's your garbage collector who pays the price.  Double-bag it please, say trash collectors who hope you will spare they stinky air.

Trash collectors see pornography -- a lot of it.  Never just a couple of magazines, but entire collections that could fill a bedroom floor to ceiling.

The job can require being flexible as in the case of a San Francisco Public Works Department who does it all from cleaning up after car accidents and fires to scrubbing down biological waste on the street. So much for boring.

It's a jungle in there. Don't have a heart attack when a squirrel or rat darts out of a trash can. Hungry critters can actually eat their way through. Humans have been known to rummage and even sleep in trash bins, and on a scarier note, criminals like to throw all sorts of thing into the bin, including bodies.

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