A post-4th Dog Walk Story.

So, I took a couple of days off (now that I finally have PTO after SIX years) and it didn’t exactly go as planned, but this isn’t about that. This is about an encounter with some woman around my age, I didn’t recognize her but we have lots of new neighbors.

So, Independence Day is one of the four listed holidays on our county’s “No Trash Pickup” days. They don’t pick up on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, and Independence Day. A lot of people don’t actually use The Google, so they put out their trash for pickup on the 4th, and it did not happen. The majority figured out their error and dragged the trash in for the next pickup day, a mild annoyance but No Big Deal.

So, I was walking Gidget early on the 5th and there were still a few trash cans out. A woman I did not recognize, not dressed for a morning walk, came out of a side street and complained that the trash had not been picked up, and she’d “Checked the website and the 4th of July was not listed as a holiday!” She had a mad, and wanted to talk to a manager.

I said, “It is on the website, it’s one of the no pickup holidays.”

She insisted she had checked and IT WAS NOT LISTED! I said yeah, it was, and the neighborhood Facebook page sent a reminder too. She Was Insulted and crossed the street, harrumphing, and Gidget and I got on with our walk. Whatever.

It took me a bit, but it dawned on me: She was looking for The 4th of July! It’s listed on the county website as Independence Day, and she didn’t know it meant the 4th of July. None of the holidays are listed by specific date: Thanksgiving is a floating holiday on the calendar, so is Christmas, so is New Year’s Day, so Independence Day was listed the same way, if it falls on your trash day they are not picking up and will pick up on the next scheduled day. Monday was our trash day, and was the 4th.

Reminder: I do not live in one of the gator wrasslin’ and cousin-marryin’ parts of Florida, which is a small portion of the state but a useful setting for fiction. I live in one of the very many educated and affluent (and purple) big city areas, where we who have only bachelor’s degrees and mid-level corporate jobs are lucky to find affordable housing options. This well-heeled white lady knew enough to check the county website, but didn’t make the connection that “Independence Day” happens on the 4th of July.

Our current issues started a long time ago.