OBACHAN'S SCRIBBLES

OMG! They’ve finally started it!! :O

Sorry…I just came back from our garbage collection site. Here in Kochi, we are supposed to bring garbage to designated garbage collection sites on scheduled days for garbage trucks to pick up. Large trash is collected only once a month on the 2nd Monday, so tomorrow is the pick-up day for this month. I felt a strong “urge to purge” this weekend, and prepared 5 to 6 big garbage bags full of bottles, cans, old clothes, and knick-knacks that I couldn’t throw away for years. Now they are all sitting in my kitchen.

According to the community rule, we are supposed to take large trash to designated sites Monday morning, only betw. 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. But the fact is, NO ONE wants to do it MONDAY MORNING before going to work, especially when the garbage has to be separated like green bottles here, brown bottles there and old clothes over there next to the spot for cardboards, etc… Think about it… people usually bring large trash by cars. Imagine how crowded it can be at and around the garbage collection site which is right next to the entrance of a junior high school. Kids come to school around 8:00 a.m. So what we, the MAJORITY -- if not all -- of the residents, have been doing was that we took large trash there beforehand, like Sunday night, or in the daytime Sunday, or even Saturday night…

We had been warned that we should stop doing that. Last month, at the garbage collection site, they put up new signboards saying that leaving large trash there before the scheduled time is strictly prohibited. But I didn't think that would actually stop us.

I just went there to see if anyone already took large trash there tonight… OMG! There were 6 or 7 elders from the neighborhood association standing there with hands on their hips, watching so that no one would break the rule. Ahhhh…..!!!

Oh, of course, the community rule is very important. I’m basically a low-abiding citizen. I just paid the annual fee for the neighborhood association yesterday, too. Oh, thank you, board members of the association, thank you for watching… BTW don’t you need to go home and have supper? Are you taking turns…?

Looks like there’s no other choice but to get up early tomorrow morning :( It’d be devastating if I missed this chance and would have to wait for another month to throw away all these craps piled up in my kitchen now. Gosh…