Holiday trash tells the real story
This wasn't the best of years for holiday parties, and it looks the same for gift-giving.
Don't wait for year-end reports to confirm that, go to the source: the people who clean up the holiday mess. These folks, some call them garbagemen others call them waste haulers, know who did what and who got what. From what they see in their curbside crystal balls, they know who was bad and who was good. This year, the layoffs and uncertain economy seem to have played a role in how much fun was had.
"There doesn't seem to have been many parties this year," said Jeremy Soderstrom, who drives an Allied Waste recycling truck. "I haven't seen as many empty boxes that new dolls and other toys come in."
During his run through East Dundee neighborhoods on Christmas Eve morning, he said he has not seen as many empty egg nog, pop and alcohol bottles from holiday revelers. And, there haven't been as many stacks of trays that once held cookies and hors d'oeuvres. The mountains of torn holiday paper used to wrap gifts given before Christmas Day have not been waiting in curbside budging garbage cans.
"I've been doing this job for 10 years. Some years are better than others. This year is definitely down," he said.
Nick Dearing's instincts have yet to be honed as sharply as Soderstrom's. He has the same job and same route for Allied Waste, but he's only been collecting trash for two years.
Unlike Soderstrom, he hasn't seen a decade of good and bad holidays. He hasn't picked up after the parties held weeks before Dec. 25 and days after Jan. 1.
From the stories he hears he can only imagine how garbage cans tilted in the snow overflowing with boxes, paper, and half-eaten food. Those were the good times, he's been told.
He doesn't have many years on the job to tell his own stories of having to pick of old televisions, appliances, exercise equipment and furniture that Christmas gifts pushed out of usefulness.
In those years, garbage trucks made frequent and long stops. Their bins were filled quickly, forcing drivers to empty them sooner and return for more.
This year is not shaping up not to be like one of those years, Soderstrom said. In a way it could be a blessing; having to pick up less trash means not having step over mounds of snow piled along streets.
The holiday tips are still there though from homeowners, the veteran waste hauler said. No matter how much trash is picked up, residents consistently show their appreciation with cookies or money-filled envelopes taped to garbage cans. This year is no exception.
"A waste hauler can make from $600-$700 in holiday tips," Soderstrom said. "We'll find $10 or $20 in envelopes.
"Some neighborhoods are better than others, and senior citizens always leave tips no matter what the economy is like."