The Garbage Man

“Nobody ever died of old age” is the book in which the reading “the garbage man” was derived from. The book is described as being “an anecdotal look at the aging and aged” from the author Sharon Curtain. The reading was very short yet packed with many elements of suspense and surprise, as well as vivid details which made the story easy to visualize. The reading is a flashback to the childhood memories of a girl fascinated with an elderly man known as “the garbage man” by the town in which she lived. The man is described as being dressed in “tattered and tainted clothing”, and being crippled in one leg. His nickname was given to him because he scuffled through garbage cans looking for scraps to feed his chickens. The children made up jingles about him and teased him as he wandered through the alleys of the town. The young girl in the story was determined to get a close up look at “the garbage mans” face, for no one had actually seen what he looked like. Her imagination ran wild with elaborate scenarios about the man’s looks, as well as why he lived alone in a big two story house. She began to follow him and play “detective” to feed her hunger for mystery and adventure. Eventually he changed his daily routes and the girl needed to involve the other kids in order to catch a glimpse of his face. Her sister came up with the idea to hide her in a garbage can. When the man came around and opened the can she would have the perfect opportunity to see his face and solve the mystery. The moment of truth finally came. Once he opened the can and reached in, both he and the girl were frightened. The can fell over and they both ran away. She came to realize that the man was not mysterious at all. She was disappointed to find out that he was simply an old man. Not ugly and deformed as she had imagined, just a regular old face. Upon this realization, she sat at the top of a tree house and cried.  

                The story is told from the little girl’s point of view. However, the details surrounding the “garbage man” made him a much more interesting character to me. I remember that mysterious old person in my neighborhood that all the kids (and some adults) made up stories about. He had a long white beard and walked around in a long black judges robe with a black top hat. We would run and scream in terror and delight when he would come around. It was like a game to see who would stay on the sidewalk the longest before running away because he was getting close to us. Just like the reading, I was curious about the real story behind this mystery man. As I got older I found that the man was actually a retired judge. He lost his wife to cancer and had no kids so he kept to himself. He didn’t murder kids and hide the bones in the backyard as we all suspected. He was simply an older person whom had been through some very hard times. The garbage man was the same way. We tend to be afraid of what we don’t know about people. Instead of taking the time to get to know the unknown, we judge and make up stories for our own entertainment. This is especially true when it comes to elderly people. The lesson I learned from reading this passage is to not let the mystery of others identity overshadow the fact that they are real people with feelings just like us. Hopefully this lesson resonates with all whom ever come across this reading.