Negativity - Page 2

Originally Posted by joebob49

Yea a woman the other day as im grabbing some metal crates from the curb. She stops and says here honey take this dollar, Come on fast befor my neighbers see me giving a bum money. I opened my wallet and handed her a 20 told her to leave fast befor I steal her BMW.

Ive been doing this a long time.Ive worked for a couple of different companies,still work for a larger midwest company, and for years scraped on my own time.I would often double my wages by scraping after work and on weekends and sometimes more than double.It has always amazed me that people associate our business with "garbage collection".Ive gotten those looks though...many times.I always figured the more people who were ignorant about this business the more money I can make..worked out pretty good so far.

Originally Posted by YardApe

Ive been doing this a long time.Ive worked for a couple of different companies,still work for a larger midwest company, and for years scraped on my own time.I would often double my wages by scraping after work and on weekends and sometimes more than double.It has always amazed me that people associate our business with "garbage collection".Ive gotten those looks though...many times.I always figured the more people who were ignorant about this business the more money I can make..worked out pretty good so far.

Garbage collectors make $32K in Ohio, could be worse.
http://www.infobarrel.com/List_of_Tr...aries_by_State

ive had to convince my whole family and my girlfriend. my uncle asked for months if i was making any money, we went to a pallet auctions a few weeks ago and pulled out my bag, paid cash for our 80 gallon air compressor and two other pallets and have gotten one more since, plus now he gets gas for his old tractor from our cars because we are getting more than my partner can use, then he went with me with a load of aluminum wheels and i showed him the ticket??? he said how many trips do you make a week is said at least one a day, anyway no more questions from him. most of you guys know this but after my girl went with me a few days on her days off she is now convinced and actually looks forward to the phone ringing now plus she is expert at tire disassembling shes only able to work with me once or twice a month but i think she looks forward to it now. i used to get a haircut once or twice a year but since i have started dealing with some businesses i do clean up a little more often but still wear my steel toes and my Carhartts even when we meet with the big dogs. i get called Sanford and son all the time and i just grin, even made it my ringtone on my phone. anyway for the people that judge us i have to agree with Mick People may laugh at me, but that's ok. I laugh all the way to the bank. thanks Mick and thanks Russel for this thread

I was walking down a road with a 25Kg load of Ali etc in a sack over my shoulders, dirty & torn up clothes.
I walk past a newly sold house, the owners are sayin 'bye' to a couple who have just visited them.

As the visitors are getting to their car, they see me, giggle & larf thinking to themselves 'look at the dero' carrying rubbish'....

And I'm thinking 'Well, you didn't pay cash up front for your house, like I did'

the money was in a trust managed by the bank due to his lack of understanding of normal processes. the bank allowed him a monthly stipend and approved all credit transactions.

I like being "invisible" as I like to call it.

Sure people see me when I'm picking, but very few will talk to me.


When I'm dressed up though, it's a different story. Makes me wish I was picking.

Does anyone come across negative comments about scrapping?

I pickup cans on my street and hold cleanups once a month been doin it for 6 years now about 1000 hours of volunteer hours and folks look at me like either homeless or on work release. I'm having a blast making Cash and cleaning up the Street. Someone tried to give us money last month when we were cleaning the street. I used to work at an inner city hospital and they had choppers coming in from 3 states and the thing they are known for is everyone regardless if your a street person or a trauma surgeon is treated with RESPECT. Even when the guards are kicking people off the property it's Sir or Mam. That is the problem with our society people have a lack of RESPECT for each other. On Wednesday morning some teenagers got into an argument couple miles north of us and one kid felt Dis respected so he shot two kids seven times. One survived after taking him to that hospital.

There is definitely a world wide bias against recyclers since it flies in the face of the grand lie of consumption as the pinnacle of our "civilization". Watch Vic Muniz's Waste Land and stand tall, real tall. We are the future.

Originally Posted by dmm2442

I haul trash for a living and also scrap on the side. I love my job. Most people look down at me for what I do for a living and the cloths I wear. It never bothers me. If they really knew who I was they would know I most likely make more than them, graduated top of my class, and am dating a cute pharmacist, but they just see the dirty garbage man.... fools The greatest thing about my job is that nobody messes with the garbage man. I've never once been yelled at or cussed out.

I go to auctions to buy scrap all the time. There is an old man maybe in his late 70s that is at every auction. He buys all the junk I like to buy. He always wears a ratty old shirt and uses an old ski pole for a cane. He is the owner of a salvage yard and is probably one of the wealthiest people I've ever meet.

I don't look down on the garbage guys around here. Being its against regulations to throw electronics in the trash. The guy that picks ours up always tells me hey man there's towers at such an such. He always gets a nice tip. But the way I look at it is if a man is making an honest living he is a good man in my book no matter what his wages or attire includes.

Hold your heads up high fellas...real high. Anyone can do a mainstream job, that fits the society norm. But when you can do whatever it takes, no matter what anyone thinks, to take care of your family. Well Hell, that's the true meaning of Character, Class, and Pride.

I get it all the time. Even my parents mention how they paid for a 4 year degree and I spent there money like this. I not only run my small yard but work a full time white collar job as well. This has me putting in 80+ hours most weeks. All I can do is laugh at their comments. My bank teller routinely scoffs at me when I stop by and pay all my bank loans again which are paid almost a year in advance and put money in the savings account. None the less she looks down on me and my family. It doesn't bother us. I don't have a problem with people who work for a living and they shouldn't resent those who don't have too. I don't care what a person does for a living but i do care what kind of person they are. LOL even a company I buy steel cans, the guy who loads them, makes slight comments about what we do..... Dude you work for the guy I just handed 4k in cash to buy these!!! Kinda funny now that I think of it. But I don't look down on him for it..

It did bother me considerably this week though when my wife was driving my truck to the store and some 90 year old lady hit my truck hard enough to push the axle back. I have business insurance on it and pay alot for it. that was last wed. I was just able to get them to accept liability yesterday and when they try to replace it with a mini car I explain I need at least a f250 with a gooseneck hitch...... well I am just out of luck cause they wont provide it. When I start to talk loss of use settlement they ask what the truck does. I explain it and am told that if I think I can provide some type of proof of what I could have made if the truck were not damage then I could make a claim. She became very disrespectful after the explanation. Guess i will have to waste money on attorney because suddenly I am just trying to scam them....

Wow I usually make short posts. maybe this is a hidden issue with me.

The only real difference between a worthless bum and a respected member of the community is how much money people think you have in the bank. The people who tell you to get a real job and have a carear when they think you are poor are the same people who would quit their job and sit on their ass enjoying life if they hit the lottery. Its a society thing, we have values that take time to be adjusted with the reality of the world. After WW1 anybody who made a dime off manufacturing war equipment was looked at like scum, these days making billions off of war/death is as American as hotdogs, baseball and Apple pie.