Courteous, Sure. But Don't Be Shy. It Comes Out Looking Like Passive-Aggressiveness.

We've had what seems like a rash of a certain kind of problem lately.  People have expressed concerns about their garbage pick-up, or they've experienced that one or another kind of refuse wasn't picked up at all.  Maybe it seems to them that the garbage men didn't come get the bins from the side yard, or the bin wasn't replaced there.

It can't be anyone's goal that our garbage service not function properly and successfully.  Could it?  Isn't the whole idea that we want the refuse to be taken away and dealt with.  Wherever the garbage is, it shouldn't be at our homes.  It's in our immediate and central interest that it be collected and removed.  That is the point, isn't it?

I said we've been experiencing a problem lately, but it's really two problems.  The first is the complaint.  But the second is the failure to make a complaint, or at least not to make it when it will do much good.  If you think your garbage didn't get collected and disposed of timely and properly, reach out.  Make contact.  And do it as soon as you think there's a problem. 

What's been happening the past week or so is that people don't say that something seems amiss until days after the complained-of apparent lapse happened.  The big problem is that the garbage remains uncollected until someone does something about it.  And no one can do anything about it until someone is told there's a problem.  The other problem is that if no one knows there's a problem, then there is little way to analyze how the problem happened, so it can be avoided next time.

If you're going to say "Duh," let me tell you this has happened way more than you would think.  And don't ask me why someone would sit on a problem for days.  I have no idea.

If your uncollected garbage, sitting out at the curb, is not a problem to you, let me tell you, it's problem to your neighbors.  You'll get yourself an unwanted reputation if you manage your property that way.

If you have a problem, or you think you do, let someone know.  And do it the day you think you have the problem.  The Village website, www.biscayneparkfl.gov, has an easy-to-see link in the middle of the opening page.  It says Trac-EZ.  Click on it.  Register your complaint.  People who have done that, even people who don't like WastePro or don't like outsourcing, have been very gratified at the prompt and courteous result.  If you don't want to do that, or if you don't have a computer (then how are you reading this?), call 305-651-7011.