Joe to the trash!

For a few weeks each December, I look forward to opening my mailbox. The bills and advertisements, while ever-present, get some competition from the Christmas cards and photos from dear friends. But the Christmas card I most look forward to receiving each year doesn’t come in my mailbox—it comes in my trash can. Seriously.

On garbage day this week, I pulled into my driveway after work to find a red envelope sticking out of the trash bin. I was so excited to open my card from Joe the garbage man. Every year he rewrites the lyrics to a popular Christmas carol with lyrics about garbage. And it’s clear from his little ditties that he loves his job.

One year it was “Joe to the trash” sung to the tune of Joy to the World. This year, the tune was O Christmas Tree. It goes like this:

O Garbage Can, O Garbage Can, Thy smells are ever changing
O Garbage Can, O Garbage Can, Thy smells are ever changing
Not only reek when summer’s here, but also when tis’ cold and drear
O Garbage Can, O Garbage Can, Thy smells are ever changing

There are two more verses and choruses that follow, mentioning foul treasure and unsightly insides. This is my fourth Christmas with Joe. And even though I’ve never met him, every year I’m struck by how much joy he has in serving his customers. So what if he’s trying to get a good tip? He’s earned it!

I can think of hundreds of jobs I would rather do than pick up other people’s trash. That’s why his simple gesture of a clever Christmas carol always makes me stop during the hurried Christmas season and think about my attitude about work, life and the occasional “trash” I have to deal with.

I’ll confess that griping and complaining come far too easily to me. But I’m thankful for the little reminders this time of year—a “Merry Christmas” from the bundled up Salvation Army bell ringer, a cheesy, made-for-TV holiday movie, and a Christmas carol from Joe the garbage man—to be filled with joy no matter what my circumstances.