Wow! My adrenaline is still pumping as I type this. If you have been following the blog then you know that the garbage collection service, Piki-Tup, has been on strike. The latest news (as of this morning) was that they would be back picking up trash after the Easter holiday. In the mean time, our garbage needed to be removed. I called Edmund, a savvy entrepreneur who came through a week ago with his own truck, to pick up our trash today before the long holiday. Here in SA the Easter holiday is Good Friday, the weekend, and Easter Monday. Our trash couldn't wait until next week. So I called Edmund and he was headed our way today around 4:30. As I did last week, I taped a brown envelope with 70 Rand inside to the lid of the can and marked it "Edmund , #1699", which is our house number. A few hours later I hear the roar of a large truck, which I suspect is a garbage truck. Thinking that Edmund doesn't have such a truck, I look out the window to see a Piki-Tup truck. I also notice my can has been emptied and the envelope is gone. I don't know what possessed me but I chased the truck and crew down to the gate of our estate and stopped them with the help of our security. I explained to our security men what had happened and that the money I left on the can was not Piki-Tup's but a private company's and I wanted my money back. We gathered around the truck with the 7-man crew and the one woman who was riding "shotgun" and we explained what happened. No one offered to return the 70R from my can lid. I told all of them that I was going to plant myself in front of the gate and that the truck would have to run me down to leave our estate but that I wanted my 70R back. After about 15 minutes of discussion, mostly in a language I didn't understand, I called Jon at work who told me to tell them I was going to call the police if I didn't get my money back. The property manager, a white woman named Sally, showed up and lectured the crew about the break in trust and how bad this would look for them. I also advised them that my husband had access to TV channels and, with some contacts, could broadcast that Piki-Tup's first hours back on the job were less than stellar. I told the crew, through the estate security, that all I wanted was my money back. I wouldn't call the police or report the theft to anyone if I just got my money back. Sally, our estate manager, told them all that I was a very generous lady who would probably have given generously at Christmas had this not happened. She was quite upset. Our favorite guard, named Sunday, was also quite instrumental in strong-arming and strong-talking his way with the crew. Finally, after threat of police intervention and bad publicity, the woman crew member gave me the 70 Rand owed me. I still can't believe I stood in front of our gate, in front of a giant garbage truck, and in front of a crew of 7 and a security crew of 3 and demanded my stolen money back! Before this whole ordeal was over I told them that all they had to have done was remove the envelope and walk it to my door and tell me it wasn't theirs. I would have, from that moment on, been a Piki-Tup advocate for life. Unfortunately no one chose that as an option. Perhaps this has been a learning experience for them, but somehow I doubt it. I have become such a cynic in just three short months. But at least our garbage got picked up. :)
Yes-Our garbage service is called Piki-Tup. But we have had no picking up for 2 weeks. This is the cover of today's paper. Luckily it hasn't been too hot so it hasn't gotten too smelly and no flies. Hopefully the work slowdown will be settled soon.
