COMMUNITY - Republic and Random Acts of Kindness

Some of us have had occasional frustrations with Republic Services since they first started picking up our trash and recycling.  The services have gotten better and more dependable, which I think we all appreciate.  If you had concerns Tuesday about missed pick-ups, it was due to the Labor Day Holiday on Monday.  A holiday will always shift their schedule by a day, they work to catch up, and then the following week they will be back on schedule.  

That said, I overheard a conversation today between one of the Republic drivers and another vendor working outside in the community.  The other vendor had been working for a few hours in and out of the sun. I had seen him earlier and by the end of his project he was noticeably flushed and tired.  When the Republic truck pulled up, the vendor was still picking up his equipment and loading it into his truck.  

I was unloading groceries from my van when the Republic driver came up and pulled our dumpsters to his truck.  I saw him glance over his shoulder as he repositioned the containers to lift them up to empty.  On his walk back with the empty dumpsters, he put them into place and walked over to the other vendor.  I heard him tell the man he had seen him out working and then asked him if he was doing okay.  The man nodded and the Republic driver handed him an unopened bottle of drinking water and said "this might help, take care of yourself man" as he walked back to his truck. The vendor thanked him and turned to watch him climb back into his truck.  I noticed a few moments later the vendor took a quick drink of the water that had been so graciously handed to him.

This was a young man, working hard to catch up on his pick-ups from yesterday. He could have easily just gotten back into his truck and driven away.  Instead, he took an extra few minutes to check on a stranger before he moved on to the next building. That instinctive act of kindness helps restore my faith in people. It is also a reminder that our vendors are most often doing the best they can, often under circumstances we may not be aware of.