can i just stick up for binmen here? Cause I am one and it's service with a smile all day but it's a 50/50 friendly reaction split. Could we have a bit of love? We'll move over so you can get past...
(johnjohnjohnextra2, Thu 27 May 2010, 16:58, 16 replies)

you get love from my son..
from being about 2 he's always always waved at the binmen and loved it when he got a wave back. Diamonds, mine are.. take fucking anything away for me, even stuff they're not supposed to. I do give them a nice Christmas box as it can't be easy having to hoik chavs' uneaten Iceland filth around on a hot summer's day.
Binmen rule.
(it's the councils that are the cunts)
Be good to your binman and he'll be good to you. My Mum's Goddaughter is married to one and he's come home with all kinds of good stuff.
( Sallyrsm, Thu 27 May 2010, 17:09, closed)

Likewise.
My kid's grown out of you guys a bit now he's four but you used to be the highlight of his week and you always smiled at him, even though other people's children are generally fucking annoying. And you never complain about our overflowing bins. We do tip you large at Christmas though!
(Happybara The jungle came alive and took him, Thu 27 May 2010, 17:33, closed)

The binmen 'round here are mostly ok
although they do have a nasty habit of leaving the lowest bag wedged into the bottom of the bin if more than a derisory little shake fails to ease it from its place. This is a bit of a pain when one bag takes up 1/2 your binspace.

The lesser-binman, though - the recycling crew - they are a bunch of feckless, lazy asshats. On the rare occasions they bother to acknowledge my carefully-sorted and washed recycling at all, their usual reaction is to toss about 10% of it in the general direction of their badly-parked van, and chuck the remaining 90% around my drive and the pavement.
( Happy Phantom has been to Hastings, Brighton, and Eastbourne too, Thu 27 May 2010, 17:31, closed)

This was exactly my experience when I lived in Ealing.
The recycling crew seemed to think their duties consisted of:

- turning up once a week;
- checking carefully to see if anyone had left out their recycling bin;
- if so, tipping their bin over and emptying its contents all over the pavement;
- fucking off again.
( .Yeti. El amor en los tiempos del cólera, Thu 27 May 2010, 17:59, closed)

Binmen are the aces.
If we had binmen go on strike at the same time as we had snow, the UK would just die and sink into the sea.
My binmen are great, they always get a nice tip (I am sensible with it though) the long term guys get more than the ones drafted in from an agency because 'Jim' is off sick.
I've even had some cold cans of coke out in the hot days for my binmen, sometimes they don't get round until about 11am, and they have such a bloody early start and working in the heat they do sometimes is bloody horrible.
(Mensa Reject has gone out, I'll be back on, Thu 27 May 2010, 18:05, closed)

Septics
Public service workers in New York all have an official nickname. The cops are "New York's Finest", firefighters are "Bravest", prison guards are "Boldest", and binmen get some love too: they are the "Strongest". They even have their own street, the Avenue of the Strongest in downtown Manhattan.

That sort of civic pride gesture would be sniffed at back in England, but I think it's great. The city binmen are pretty well respected too.
( Scrumper, Thu 27 May 2010, 18:18, closed)

Privatised Binmen are Great
all Polish around here

not like the local council guys who expected a tip at Xmas
( The Scrunt Wants a Dozen Pints, Thu 27 May 2010, 19:22, closed)

Stick up for the PROPER binmen, by all means
Generally cheerful, doing a job I couldn't/wouldn't do in a million years.
The community service brigade on the recycling rounds though are obnoxious workshy jobsworths (oxymoron?) who refuse to take your cardboard for health & safety reasons if the velcro flap across the top of the bag won't fasten. Those 3 extra Weetabix boxes must weigh a fucking ton.
( Snappyuk gets BIGGER with free sample., Thu 27 May 2010, 22:40, closed)

Ours are lovely...
The same crews do wheelybins one week and recycling bags the next, they take other stuff when there's room and run up the road heaving stuff into the truck at phenomenal speed. We'd truly be in the shit without them.
I love the New York idea..
(Beer Elf Thought this was like a campfire, anyhow, on, Fri 28 May 2010, 9:45, closed)

actually cardboard doesn't recycle - it has to be composted. Same goes for the Financial Times, oddly.
(johnjohnjohnextra2, Fri 28 May 2010, 12:22, closed)

You surprise me
If that's the case, why do we have to separate it from the garden waste, which I presume goes a similar route?
( Snappyuk gets BIGGER with free sample., Fri 28 May 2010, 17:43, closed)

you shouldn't have to, cardboard easily breaks down in the huge mounds of hot compost at the treatment centres - sounds like you're workin too hard!

- Touched by the love everyone, thanks!
(johnjohnjohnextra2, Sat 29 May 2010, 15:30, closed)

Binners're great
I leave out cold drinks in summer and choccy bars in winter for them. In the hot summers a few years ago their job must've been horrific but they still turned up on time.

Ours don't have to lift bins any more though as we have wheelie bins. The nickname 'The Strongest' may refer to another of their attributes.
(Juan Quar is clinging to her front teeth on, Fri 28 May 2010, 9:57, closed)

respect to the binmen
They do a job that is very worthwhile....unlike a lot of the job's posted this week. I even class them (in my world) above a lawyer as they are more worthwile to my life.....just one thing, I don't mind the bins being collected once every 2 weeks in winter but in summer can we get a collection every week....keep up the good work.

PS I am too lazy to wheel my bin out the extra 2 yards to the pavement but my binnies will still pick it up without compliant...legends!
(bROKEN aRROW PUA HVI Master, Fri 28 May 2010, 14:00, closed)

Wakefield binmen
Thumbs up from me.
(Vice Admiral Sir Charles Cockbrush KCB MBE DSO, who is finding it increasingly difficult to log into b3ta.com wants to duck your aunt and kick your puppy, Fri 28 May 2010, 14:03, closed)

Japanese binmen
bloody great, clean up even where they don't need to, they do a great job. If a bag splits, a cat/crow spreads rubbish everywhere, they clean up every bit and always give me a cheerful nod in the mornings.
(knackerz is skinning up, Sat 29 May 2010, 2:02, closed)