Question Du Jour

Have you ever wondered why garbage pick-up is always so early in the morning? Why can’t the garbage collectors start their work day at 9:00 like so many? This was on my mind as they woke me up at 5:00 am this morning. 

 

Before consulting Google, I asked a human being—my wife— why that might be. And she had a sensible answer: Because they stop and start so much, it would be a big problem for traffic flow. Bingo! Never thought about that. 

 

Then one thought leads to another, as they do, and I wondered why loggers start their work so early. And remembered a poem by Gary Snyder titled:

 

Why Log Truck Drivers Rise Earlier Than Students of Zen

In the high seat, before-dawn dark,

Polished hubs gleam

And the shiny diesel stack

Warms and flutters

Up the Tyler Road grade

To the logging on Poorman creek.

Thirty miles of dust.

 

There is no other life.

 

An interesting poem, but it doesn't quite answer the question. Nor could my wife. So on to Google and here was the sensible answer:

Loggers often work early in the morning to beat the heat, minimize wait times at the sawmill, and take advantage of better travel conditions and forest floor conditions. The remote nature of logging sites also requires a long workday to maximize productive daylight hours. 

 

There you go. My day has begun with two questions answered that I never had thought of asking before. And then sharing it with you. If you’re out on a first date or at a party, you can throw these questions out as conversation starters and avoid those awkward silences.

 

You’re welcome.