To the editor:

Sometimes there are things that happen in life that a person just hast to share if for no other reason than to ask, in the vernacular of my daughter, “say whaaaat?!”

My alluded-to daughter and other children have all grown up and moved out, leaving only my husband and myself at home. Last week my husband may have felt it was just him left at home, as I was busy at work and putting in some long hours. This poor, abandoned man was forced to rely on peanut butter sandwiches for sustenance. Now, if you have ever served a meal of peanut butter sandwiches, you will know that it does not generate a lot of garbage, unless you have a fussy eater that won’t east crusts and no dog to dispose of them (the crusts not the kids).

Garbage day arrived. I opened the garbage can in the house and saw … an empty bread bag. I made a snap decision and decided that I did not have to empty my household garbage, place it in the outside container and haul said container to the curb. Ignorantly content with my choice, I headed to work.

When I arrived home, there was a notice waiting for me from the City of Thompson informing me that they could not pick up my garbage because it was “not out in time.” Now, a number of things went through my mind at this point – firstly, the driver had to take a break from his rounds to write up the notice and walk it to my mail box (incidentally, the empty container was next to the mailbox); secondly, there have been other times in the past that we have had no garbage to put out; and thirdly, if we had intended on putting the garbage out and had not done so, wouldn’t we just shrug our shoulders and remember to be on time next week? I find the notice under the “you have got to be kidding me” label and went inside to cook my husband a meal that the Canadian Food Guide would approve of.

Later, as we were reviewing the day’s events, I looked a little closer at this notice. In fine print at the bottom is a warning that “any person who contravenes or disobeys or refuses, or neglects to obey, any provision of this bylaw is guilty of an offense and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding ($1,000).” Say whaaaat?!

Dear City of Thompson – I realize that you are having financial difficulties and are desperately trying to find ways to generate funds, but threatening to fine someone $1,000 for not having any garbage seems a little extreme. In retrospect, I do have some recyclable material stashed in the house awaiting the reopening of the recycling centre. I guess I could have thrown that out and avoided this whole situation.

Catherine Sims

Thompson

P.S. – I plan on being away on holidays this spring. Should I set up some kind of fine payment schedule before I go, as I will not be flying home to put my empty garbage can by the curb that week?